4 Ways to Address Toxic Leadership Behaviors

Published 26 October 2022 | 3 min read

Political scientist Marcia Lynn Whicker coined the term “toxic leader” in her 1996 book, Toxic Leaders: When Organizations Go Bad. Toxic leadership describes an abusive supervision style that adversely affects a company and its employees. 

What Is Toxic Leadership?

Toxic leadership is a dysfunctional style of leadership that uses autocratic and overbearing management tactics, creating a negative work environment. Due to this hostile work culture, toxic leadership often results in long- and short-term consequences for a business. High turnover rates, employee burnout, low productivity and innovation, team dissatisfaction, and workplace bullying are common effects of toxic, destructive leaders.

Stemming from a lack of confidence and need for control, leaders who exhibit toxic behavior use micromanagement techniques to diminish employee self-worth and independence. Instead of displaying good leadership by fostering a collaborative and positive work culture, toxic leaders create an unhealthy company culture to assert dominance.

4 Signs of Toxic Leadership

Toxic leaders often display narcissistic and aggressive behaviors when interacting with other team members. Some of a toxic leader’s behaviors include:

1. Arrogant mentality:

One of the early signs of toxic leadership is an arrogant mindset. Toxic leaders employ narcissistic behavior patterns, believing that they are always right and their team members are wrong. Driven by narcissism, they value their self-interests over the well-being of their team, using their toxic behavior to fuel their self-confidence and self-promotion.

2. Emphasis on hierarchy:

Since toxic leadership stems from a power imbalance, it relies on a strict top-down structure. Toxic leaders manipulate their seniority to put down subordinate team members. The hierarchy toxic leaders impose is also how they maintain their authority. Therefore, toxic leaders are often reluctant to provide team members independent projects or decision-making opportunities, as it defies their structural control.

3. Selective communication:

Managers who struggle to communicate effectively with their employees often default to selective communication. Rather than connecting with their team members and adopting different communication styles, a toxic boss uses one form of communication and expects everyone around them to adapt to it.

4. Unrealistic or inconsistent expectations:

Toxic managers assign unrealistic deadlines to set their employees up for failure. This is a power tactic toxic leaders use to assert their dominance over subordinate team members. Inconsistent deadlines are another way toxic leaders gaslight their employees.

4 Ways to Address Toxic Leadership Behaviors

A narcissistic leader may not realize they are a toxic person due to a lack of self-awareness or emotional intelligence. Still, with the right mentoring, toxic managers can become good leaders. Here are tips to help all types of leaders who exhibit toxic traits, whether at a start-up or small business:

1. Assert expectations and give direct feedback. Everyone experiences problems in their personal life that may result in a bad day at work, but if an employee consistently exhibits a toxic leadership style, provide clear and direct feedback as part of their performance review. Be clear that this type of behavior is unacceptable and outline ways you plan to support them to help make them a great leader. Establish a timeline with clear goals and routine check-ins.

2. Bring in a coach. The source of a toxic leader’s behavior is often low self-image; coaches boost self-esteem while reversing self-serving characteristics and teaching effective leadership traits. A leadership coach offers a neutral perspective and provides solutions for destructive behaviors they observe as an external third party.

3. Establish clear expectations. Share a clear outline of what you expect from effective leaders and document when a toxic leader veers off track. If inconsistent and unrealistic deadlines are a problem in your office, reverse the effects of toxic leadership by establishing a fair and concrete schedule for project deadlines. Make sure everyone on the team knows these guidelines, and if the toxic leader continues to change deadlines, document the behavior.

4. Support staff and promote wellness. Dealing with a destructive leadership system can take a toll on your staff’s mental health. In addition to working on the root cause of the toxic workplace, promote mindfulness activities for team members. Encourage open, honest communication and provide opportunities for staff to provide feedback.

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