Abstract
Unwanted leadership is commonly framed as bad leadership, characterised by toxic, destructive, or unethical leader behaviour. While this understanding is well established, it represents only one aspect of a more complex phenomenon. This article proposes a broader conceptualisation of unwanted leadership by introducing five distinct facets. These facets show that unwanted leadership is not limited to leader behaviour but also relates to leaders’ motivation, their understanding of the leader and follower roles, followers’ preferences, and collective rejections of leadership. This article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of leadership complexity and highlights the central role of both leaders and followers in constituting leadership as wanted or unwanted.