Minnesota Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar has been making headlines recently — not for her policies and campaign, but for how she eats salads.
The New York Times reported last week that in 2008, Klobuchar ate a salad with a comb when one of her staff members forgot to bring her a fork. Afterwards, the Times reports that she "berated" the staff member and demanded that they wash the salad comb.
While former staff members have come out in support of Klobuchar, others have confirmed that she was not an easy boss to work for. The debate over Klobuchar's comb incident — and her treatment of her staff — has brought about a deeper question: Can a bully still be a good boss?
From Steve Jobs to Teddy Roosevelt, history has shown that bullies can be effective leaders. General George Patton may not have been someone you would have wanted to get a beer with, but you can't argue with his results. Is this an attribute we would want in a president?
Nancy Koehn, a historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration, joined BPR to talk about if in fact, a bully can be a good leader. Her most recent book is "Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times."
