From Sabotage to Success: Addressing Weaponized Incompetence for Stronger Leadership Teams

Facilitated by: Christina Frederick and Victoria Lew

Saturday, April 26th
8:00 - 9:00am CST
Credits Available: 1 CE

Weaponized incompetence— intentionally feigning an inability to perform tasks to avoid responsibility and manipulate others —disrupts organizational efficiency, erodes trust, creates resentment, and undermines workplace dynamics. This presentation will use case studies to differentiate weaponized incompetence from strategic incompetence and analyze their implications through the framework of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Participants will examine how weaponized incompetence erodes autonomy, competence, and relatedness, contributing to burnout and conflicting with the principles of human-centered leadership. Through group discussions, attendees will reflect on past workplace scenarios where they believe weaponized incompetence has occurred, explore its effects on well-being and productivity, and share their approaches to addressing it. The session will conclude with actionable, research-supported strategies to combat weaponized incompetence, promoting a culture of accountability, empowerment, and collaboration.

Learning Objectives:

1. Differentiate between weaponized incompetence and strategic incompetence, using examples to identify their unique workplace implications.
2. Analyze the impact of weaponized incompetence on autonomy, competence, relatedness, and burnout using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework.
3. Identify how weaponized incompetence disrupts human-centered leadership practices and develop strategies to restore trust and accountability in workplace systems.