Balance Delicate?

About two years ago, the concept of leadership became important to me.  And the more I learned about leadership, the more I came to learn about the various styles of leadership.  I heard about the 360 degree leadership style and the indisputable laws of leadership and have recently been transformed by the concepts of the tribes leadership method.  I've even heard there is a leadership style based on the knights of the round table.

I have also come to realize that not all forms of leadership are especially good.  Some forms of leadership are, in fact, powerfully bad.  

So leadership in my current thinking is: connecting people to a cause or movement that they all care about a lot.  And connecting them to each other and connecting them to the leader, or the guru, or the heretic of this movement: whether that be you or someone else.

And so, what happens with leadership styles that aren't especially good?  Maybe connections or intentionally not made or perhaps even connections are loosened or weakened?  Why would that happen? 

One especially poor leadership style I have come to recognize is the "keep them off balance method" (no google hits, sorry).  This involves recognizing some form of intentional connection or cause identification and activation on behalf of an emerging leader.  The idea is to then throw her off balance or cause her to question the importance of the connection of the group to each other or to her.

A well placed sarcastic comment or pointing up of weakness, real or perceived, or even a compliment where a compliment isn't called for can do it.  Why would this happen?

Is your leadership balanced or does it seek to throw others off balance?

Why?