Abstract
Effective leaders and good leadership behavior, and practices are well-researched areas in leadership and management. However, the dark side of leadership in Brazil has often been lamented in the literature and subjected to limited scholarly inquiry. This study surveyed 216 managers who participated in strategic management or project management executive certificate programs through a prestigious Brazilian professional development organization to assess their perception and experience of destructive leadership behavior. The paper identifies and analyzes the common perception, causes, and consequences of negative leadership in Brazil. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is among the first empirical studies to explore the dark side of organizational leadership in Brazil, focusing on its perception, causes, and consequences. The research is another plea to contribute to the leadership literature by providing empirical findings on the subject and its implications for leaders, practitioners, organizations, and those in charge of leadership development. It also addresses the study's limitations, implications, and directions for future research. Keywords: The dark side of leadership, Leadership, negative leadership, destructive leadership, derailment characteristics, and Brazil.