The Rice University Neologisms Database

The art of misleading people. This word gives an example of intentional (although satirical) amelioration of the word mislead. Mislead carries a negative connotation, but when altered to resemble the very positive word leadership, it takes on a subliminally positive quality. The word misleadership was formed as a blend, but it also makes sense as a derivation, mis-lead-er-ship, from the morphemes mis (wrong), lead (the root), er (one who is acting), ship (the art of). Thus we get the art of leading wrongly, an appropriate definition. Reason used: The speaker was satirically mocking the Bush administration’s attempt to portray itself as a strong source of leadership, while many feel that the administration has done nothing but mislead.