Toxic Leadership in Business: The Signs, Risks and How to Handle Them
Great teams can achieve anything. One toxic person can destroy even the best team. Especially
Great teams can achieve anything.
One toxic person can destroy even the best team.
Especially if they’re managing the team.
Toxic leadership is a damaging management style, using power, manipulation, or control to mistreat employees, making the workplace a struggle.
While discussing this topic on a business blog may seem odd, consider that nothing harms business performance more than a poisonous working atmosphere.
Toxic behavior can be excused as a pursuit of better business performance, and at first, it may seem like an authoritative style.
The main difference is that authoritative leaders might hurt others while chasing results without much regard for feelings. In contrast, toxic leaders are primarily concerned with inflating and protecting their vulnerable egos.
The difference usually uncovers over time, but some red flags can be raised early.
This article aims to help you to know them.
Signs of toxic leaders:
Sign #1: Gaslighting.
The way this person communicates makes you doubt your ability to understand things correctly.
For example, they might say, “This isn’t to blame anyone,” but then assign blame.
A typical instance is when they constantly respond oppositely to your tone. If you’re serious, they act relaxed or tease you for being too stern. Conversely, if you joke about a topic, they might emphasize taking it more seriously.
They aim to undermine your self-esteem and diminish your ability to engage in well-reasoned discussions.
Sign #2: Paternalism.
The manager fosters condescending or overly protective relationships with employees.
Paternalism comes in various forms. It can appear as arrogance, hidden behind polite language and proper wording. Another indicator is dividing team members into favorites and underdogs. It often involves excessive control or micromanagement, where a leader fixates on minor details rather than tackling more crucial issues.
The goals here are to assert power and control and to instill a sense of insecurity.
Sign #3: Gossip.
Toxic leaders often prefer discussing people rather than addressing problems. They encourage colleagues to share as much information as possible about themselves and others.
By adding lies and disinformation, gossip becomes a powerful weapon that weakens relationships within a group, causing discord and igniting conflicts. Moreover, gossip is highly contagious and can spread throughout the team as a daily communication method for some members, exponentially multiplying the initial damage.
The goal is to undermine trust and relationships among team members, allowing toxic leaders to exert their authority and influence within the group.
Sign #4: Dramatization.
People under the influence of strong emotions are more likely to make mistakes. Toxic leaders often amplify emotions to push others out of a balanced state of mind, provoking poorly thought-out responses.
For example, during an otherwise brilliant presentation, a toxic leader may overreact to a minor issue, causing a team member to become anxious and lose focus.
The goal is to publicly destabilize the ambitious team member’s self-esteem and maintain control by keeping everyone on edge.
Sign #5: Blame and Criticism
When things go wrong, the mature leader takes responsibility, ensuring the problem is resolved, and then works with their team to prevent similar problems. As we remember, toxic leaders aim to protect their egos first, so they prefer the blame game.
For example, if business performance fails, they will focus on finding a scapegoat to escape any accountability. During every crisis, they follow the classic “three envelopes” story.
The goal is to manipulate facts and shift responsibility to the “guilty” person. Toxic leaders avoid responsibility at all costs.
Sign #6: Narcissism
Toxic individuals care deeply about their image within a group.
For example, they’ll ensure you know how hard they work, how little sleep they get, and how committed they are to their job. Every activity they perform will be loudly promoted.
This narcissistic behavior aims to assert their importance and superiority, making others feel inferior or inadequate. This tactic can manipulate people into seeking their approval and support, ultimately consolidating the toxic leader’s power and control over the team.
Sign #7: Envy
A toxic leader sees others’ success as a threat to their self-esteem.
For instance, they may actively attempt to hinder others’ accomplishments or be reluctant to celebrate their team members’ progress. Even if they formally acknowledge success, they might later try to “balance” the achievement by undermining the successful team member through gossip and blame behind their backs. This is especially true when there’s no way for them to take credit for the achievement themselves.
This behavior aims to maintain their perceived superiority and control within the team, ensuring that no one else appears more competent or successful than they are.
Sign #8: Demonstrative Vulnerability
If, after reading this far, you think toxic people are ruthless monsters, you couldn’t be more wrong. They can be charming and captivating.
For instance, such leaders may display deep vulnerability, enticing those around them to assume a “savior” role and step in to do their job, even if it’s not their responsibility. How can you refuse a request to help this hardworking, exhausted individual who has dedicated their lives to the business, even if the task is entirely irrelevant to your role?
The goal of demonstrative vulnerability is manipulating others into fulfilling their tasks and responsibilities, allowing the toxic leader to maintain an image of competence while avoiding accountability.
It’s normal to support your manager to the best of your ability, but if you encounter such requests too frequently, it’s probably time to set some boundaries. We’ll discuss protection tactics later in the article.
Final Sign: They Are Always Right (Or You Will Regret If Not)
A mature leader happily changes their position when a team member presents stronger arguments. It’s a sign of a competent and reliable team. However, in the mind of a destructive leader, being right safeguards their ego. As a result, they’ll use various tactics to defend their position.
This may involve intellectual arrogance, verbal or non-verbal devaluation of others’ opinions, and emotional or offensive reactions to criticism. If they can’t find valid arguments in an open discussion, toxic leaders will work hard to undermine or intimidate their opponents.
The goal is to suppress a feedback culture, placing the toxic leader and their opinion “above the battle.”
Consequences for business
You might wonder, what’s wrong with toxic leadership besides causing some discomfort for team members? After all, business is inherently tough, designed to make money rather than create a comfortable atmosphere. Managers are usually not paid for being nice.
Unfortunately, the consequences for businesses are severe.
Initially, a team may become more productive and motivated. Research has shown that people work more effectively under authoritative leadership.
However, if a manager is toxic, it eventually leads to the team’s downward spiral and deterioration. Here’s why:
Loyalty over Competence.
Over time, toxic leaders tend to undermine competent employees and prioritize loyalty. This creates an imbalance in the team, shifting the focus away from objective performance and business needs and toward relationships with the manager.
Competent team members may see a decline in their performance due to the overload caused by poorly organized management. They spend more time trying to please the manager than focusing on their business area. As dissatisfaction grows, employees may seek opportunities elsewhere, leading to the business losing valuable talent, increased turnover, and the associated costs of recruiting, hiring, and training new employees.
Hindered Growth and Innovation
In the long run, the issues mentioned earlier negatively impact the most promising and complex projects that demand maximum collaboration. These projects often drive the company’s long-term success and provide growth opportunities for team members.
Toxic leaders are adept at shifting responsibility, causing competent employees to lose credibility and eventually leave or be fired. This process intensifies over time, like a progressive disease, stifling growth and innovation within the organization.
Imbalance of Power
As the toxic leader’s internal “competitors” are pushed out, the business becomes increasingly dependent on them. Even if top management recognizes the issue, they may struggle to find reliable and competent internal candidates to replace the toxic leader.
An external candidate hired for the role will likely spend months rebuilding morale and may need to replace a significant portion of the team. Few competent leaders would want to begin their tenure under the pressure of stalled performance.
The resources needed to repair the damage caused by toxic leadership grow exponentially over time.
Dealing with Toxic Managers
If you find yourself experiencing toxic leadership, I don’t have any good news for you. You’re choosing between bad and terrible. A poisoned work environment and emotional challenges if you decide to adopt, or facing a significantly increased risk of termination if you choose to defend. In either case, navigating a toxic leadership situation will be difficult and emotionally taxing.
While there is conventional wisdom for dealing with toxic people—minimize communication, avoid gossip, don’t disclose personal information, and adhere to standard business ethics—these tactics will obviously not be as effective with your manager. They might soon perceive you as disloyal with all the consequences described above.
As I usually say – “in any uncertain situation, stay professional.” Do your job and constantly move the focus of any risky communication towards written recaps, goals, priorities, measurable outcomes, and KPIs. Keep yourself close to the objective reality. When discussing future plans, prioritize the current role’s more profound development rather than career ambitions.
Take care of yourself both mentally and physically. Exercise and meditation will help to balance your well-being. Keep a support network of friends, family, and trusted colleagues to discuss your experiences and share advice.
If you choose to protect yourself – stand your ground and politely maintain boundaries when communicating with a toxic manager. Share your feelings and concerns with HR if the situation doesn’t improve. Use concrete evidence and describe specific events that triggered your concern. Discuss the situation with trusted colleagues and provide emotional support if needed.
Express your concerns openly and honestly, but don’t let them become personal battles. Avoid gossip and blame. Please don’t engage in this game, as your opponent is likely more experienced at it.
Ultimately, it’s up to the company to decide how to address the evidence the team shares with HR. Top management often gives toxic managers ample time to change their ways, as psychological abuse is less evident than bullying or harassment. Replacing a good manager is difficult, but replacing a toxic one can be even worse.
A toxic manager’s exit is typically triggered by declining business performance, high employee turnover, and accumulated feedback to HR from departing employees. You’ll unlikely want to stay in a toxic team long enough to witness their dismissal.
Do your best in the situation and decide based on your circumstances. Investing time in searching for a better job opportunity may be wise. This isn’t about escaping; it’s about living your life as a person.
Let’s talk about it!
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P.S.
Disclaimer: While I am not a psychotherapist, the signs of narcissism and other toxic behaviors are well-documented. I have attempted to combine this knowledge with business-related examples from real life.
Throughout my career, I have worked in various corporate settings with exceptional leaders and incredible colleagues worldwide.
However, not all experiences have been positive. Deep discussions with my peers about toxic leadership have taken place, and I believe the signs I’ve described are universally applicable. These conversations ultimately led to the creation of this article.
Future read:
Max Roslyakov
Founder, Xamsor