Why Toxic Leaders Only Get Short Term Results
And drive top performers away: Monday Morning Manager Series #21
The shocking truth about toxic leaders is that they always think they are inspirational.
Dysfunctional leaders won’t read this article because they think it doesn’t apply to them.
Sorry.
Even if you pin the story on the office notice board with “Dear Joe, please read,” written in giant red letters, your toxic boss still won’t get the message.
The thing about toxic leaders is that they are everywhere. If you’ve been in the workforce long enough, you’ve probably encountered a few.
“Eventually, the team falls apart or leaves with the resulting drop in outcomes. Organizational knowledge walks out the door en-masse. By then, it is usually too late to stop them.”
These destructive leaders’ never-ending disreputable habits damage organizations, teams, and people. Resulting in unhappy and unproductive cultures.
Eventually, overwhelmed by micro-management, humiliation, fear, and daily intimidation, top performers leave. Taking all their skills, motivation, and knowledge with them straight to the competition.
Dreadful leaders can get excellent short-term results while their bewildered team works out what is going on. But no one can keep up a good standard of work in the environment created by an awful boss.
“I coached a toxic leader who could not keep anyone on her team for longer than one year. Her 12-month retention rate was close to zero. But within that year, she got lots of work out of everyone she managed.” — Why Do Toxic Leaders Survive, Andrew Schmidt, https://blog.shrm.org
Lamentably, toxic leaders often have the survival skills of a cockroach. Senior executives catch on to their tricks far too late, impressed by the top results that these damaging leaders bully out of their exhausted teams before everything falls apart.
How to recognize a toxic leader
When you know what to look for, recognizing a toxic leader is easy.
Sadly, when I run leadership training, employees can rattle off a list of toxic leadership traits much faster than positive ones.
Here are the habits of toxic leaders:
- Disrespectful
- Doesn’t share credit for the wins of the team
- Rude
- Controlling
- Calls people names
- They tell people they are stupid and worthless
- Is a bully
- Micro-manages
- Shouts
- Embarrasses & humiliates employees
- Dishonest
- No integrity
- They play favorites
- Thinks they are better than everyone else
- Talks down to the team
- They don’t back the team
- Throws the team under the bus
- Takes credit for other’s work
- Ignores facts and relies on perception
- Overloads employees with unrealistic workloads and deadlines
- Changes their mind about what they want
- Criticizes work without explaining what’s wrong with it
No one ever mentions being bad at the technical side of the job. Being a great manager or an awful one is all about how you treat people and make them feel.
Toxic leaders ruin employee’s lives
People who report to harmful leaders find it traumatic, exhausting, and depressing.
It’s unpleasant to have to second-guess what your boss will do every day and whether the parameters for your work have changed.
One woman I worked with told me she cried herself to sleep every night for a year because her boss bullied her relentlessly.
Work becomes a living nightmare.
Employees don’t do their best work
How can anyone do great work in a destructive and dangerous environment with a monster for a boss?
These horrendous leaders drain the strength of their team like vampires, sucking out every ounce of motivation and goodwill until there is nothing left.
Teams working for rotten bosses may produce excellent results initially.
Generally, they cannot sustain high-quality work in an unsupportive environment.
Employees dread coming to work and may start to sabotage the boss intentionally. Or they stop caring.
Toxicity overwhelms teams
We all know the adage about people leaving managers, not teams.
I’ve witnessed whole teams leaving an organization within a few months due to atrocious leadership.
Employees won’t put up with unacceptable leadership habits forever. Covid has made us all question the role of work in our lives, and employees are less prone to put up with nonsense from their bosses.
Eventually, the team falls apart or leaves with the resulting drop in outcomes. Organizational knowledge walks out the door en-masse. By then, it is usually too late to stop them.
Final thoughts
Whether a leader is great or dreadful, it’s all about how they treat the people in their teams.
Any wins will be short-term as a poor leader makes ongoing success unsustainable.
If you think you may have a toxic boss, start noting down what has happened with dates, times, and witnesses. You can take this information to HR or even validate your theory that you need to leave.
Keep track of how you feel and be aware of any mood changes in yourself or your team members. Don’t let a situation where you or others are getting depressed or stressed continue.
Check that the quality of your work isn’t going down. Is your boss affecting you so much that it is ruining your career? If so, it’s time to leave.
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