I think this is an inherent problem with any social system that encourages a "one up/one down" mentality.  I suspect the antidote is to promote a culture where all people are treated with equal respect, which isn't easy to do at all.<p>One problem that I have witnessed is that "nice" leadership tends to get disrespected and abused.  When my kids were younger, at one point I spelled it out clearly for them that if they didn't quit being pains in the butt, the nice mommy they were taking for granted could disappear (along with a great many privileges they took for granted) and be replaced by an evil mommy.  I choose to be nice because I prefer it, not because I don't know how to be awful.  My kids stopped taking me so much for granted and stopped assuming that I was some kind of doormat.<p>As an example with adults, I currently participate in an online forum where the moderator is sometimes viciously attacked.  The attackers then justify their attacks by saying things like "She must not mind.  If she did, she could remove me."  Things improved after I got after the attackers and then, when someone suggested the moderator could leave, stated publicly that "Maybe it is lost on you that she is the moderator and the only reason her attackers can remain is because she is a great deal more tolerant than they are."  The entire tone of the forum changed.<p>As long as most people are so generally disrespectful and so willing to take good things for granted, "corrupt" leaders may be the only kind who can survive.