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Sly and Mighty

How to Recognize, Resist and Rise Above Toxic Power

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Sly and Mighty

Written by: Kathleen Saxton
Narrated by: Kathleen Saxton
Free with 30-day trial

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹671.06

Buy Now for ₹671.06

The groundbreaking new book which exposes the psychology of destructive leadership and how to rise above it

'Rare and necessary... essential reading for anyone who leads, or is led.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Jon Slade, CEO, Financial Times

'Every boss, every board member and every employed person should read this.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Theo Paphitis, Dragon, Entrepreneur and Retail Champion

'An essential guide to power, politics and personality at work." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Anna Jones, CEO, The Telegraph

'Indispensable... I will be recommending it.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Prof. Andrew Stephen, Saïd Business School, Oxford


We are all, at times, awakened by the courage of another.

Great leadership expands us: possibility, conviction, a sense of what we might become.

But where there is light, there is also shadow.

Across boardrooms, staffrooms and communities, a corrosive style of leadership has taken hold, rooted in narcissism and Dark Triad traits, low in empathy, high in control and quietly destructive. It erodes confidence, silences dissent and leaves lasting harm.

'Sly and Mighty' names it, and shows you what to do next.

Drawing on an extraordinary triple perspective as a global board-level executive, leadership headhunter and acclaimed psychotherapist, Kathleen Saxton brings a uniquely full-spectrum lens to how toxic power operates, and why it is so often allowed.

Combining high-stakes case studies with the latest research on narcissism and workplace dynamics, this book helps you to:

  • 🐊 Spot the warning signs early

    🐊 Stop enabling what you know is wrong

    🐊Decide how to challenge, navigate or leave

    🐊 Reclaim your confidence and assert your agency

'Sly and Mighty' bears witness to recognition, resistance and recovery - because leadership should never diminish you, or anyone else.

©2026 Kathleen Saxton (P)2026 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Leadership Management & Leadership Mental Health Personality Disorders Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Self-Help Stress Management Workplace & Organisational Behaviour Workplace Culture
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Critic Reviews

Positive leadership is key to a successful business and fulfilled employees - if it's not working it needs to be brought sharply into focus. Kathleen Saxton names the challenges, explains them and, crucially, shows you how to deal with them. Every boss and every board should read this.
Kathleen Saxton has done something rare and necessary. She has taken the lived experience of toxic power and given it both a clinical framework and a human face. Essential reading for anyone who leads, is led or sits on a board.
A rare and important contribution, rigorous in its psychological grounding yet utterly accessible. Saxton bridges the gap between clinical insight and organisational reality with true authority.
Sly & Mighty is the book I wish had existed earlier in my career; for anyone in a leadership or management role, building a culture or simply trying to survive one, it will be hugely valuable. Saxton writes with authority, compassion and the hard-won wisdom that only comes from having seen this world from every angle.
I have seen first-hand how a deeply toxic individual can distort an entire organisation around them. Kathleen's book is a long-needed and essential examination of some of the disturbing truths behind power. What begins as an attempt to manage one 'valuable' individual's behaviour allows the toxicity to spread through the culture, crippling the organisation itself and making one person's pathology become the organisation's dysfunction.
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