Surface Ripples

Toxic Leadership Behaviour

With ever-increasing pressure on leaders to “perform” these days, the temptation to indulge in what some might see as “toxic “strategies can be very powerful.

I recently read a fascinating article by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink on some of the typical toxic behaviours one might encounter. 

Kraaijenbrink identifies seven key behaviours.  He starts with micromanagement: a behaviour that stifles innovation and trust as workers feel undervalued and demotivated, meaning lack of job satisfaction due to seeing their work continuously undermined.

The next is withholding information.  If someone does this deliberately to keep their people in the dark, the result is a culture of secrecy and mistrust – the “information is power” syndrome.  The team may also not be able to make effective decisions.  To this I would add the opposite: deluging workers with information, emails, memos and such like whether they’re relevant to them or not.  This causes “information overload” and stress as people try to work out and prioritise what’s important.  A good leader acts as an “information funnel”, reviewing inbound messages and deciding which are relevant for which worker.

Many of us will have heard the maxim that leadership is a position offering an opportunity to build others.  Thinking of one’s position in “hierarchical terms” is likely to mean the leader believes in command-and-control style.

“Divide and conquer” tactics result in cohesiveness and trust amongst team members being destroyed and a toxic working environment.  Additionally, they undermine collaboration and encourage destructive competition.

How often have we heard of “the leader who’s never there”?  Employees and workers will feel they’re not supported as well as experiencing uncertainty in direction.  Additionally, personal development and addressing issues promptly may result in lower job satisfaction.

Another toxic behaviour in terms of managing people comes in the form of seeing team members as resources rather than human beings (think of the ghastly “Human Resources” description for the department charged with workers’ well-being).  In such cases, burn-out, lack of engagement and high turnover can result. 

Finally, the all-too common fault of playing favourites can destroy team morale and result in divisions and resentment when merit is overlooked, discouraging effort and loyalty.

Personally, I know I’ve been guilty of several of these sins at one time or another.  The key is to learn from them and avoid repeating them.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website  provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  

Labels: Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Teamwork

posted by William Martin @ 12:19