Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership

December 8th, 2009 // 4:49 pm @ Tanmay // 35 Comments

Many organizations today are plagued by so-called leaders who don’t carry a leadership mindset. Their title may read “Project Leader” and they may be managing a few people, but that does not make them real leaders. We all know that leadership is a mindset, a way of thinking and attitude. It has little to do with title/designation.

Few years back, I heard a project manager saying, “I will screw him up if he does not complete this module today”. This rather harsh statement was spoken in front of all team members! Statements like these tell us more about the attitude of the project manager. That is why they say that if you want to judge the character of a leader, see how he thinks, acts and talks when he is handling a difficult situation.

You can identify a toxic leader by following traits:

Does not promote initiatives
Behaves destructively
Often shouts at his people when they make mistakes
Micromanages
Suppresses innovative ideas
Always tends to find something that is not going right and fix people on that
Tries to be in control all the time
Does not openly communicate in a straight-forward fashion
Does not trust people
Encourages and then enforces “conformance” to his ideas
Assigns blame to someone else in the team rather than protecting them
Succeed mostly by showing others down

Leaders who are not conscious and careful about the way they think, act and talk set a wrong example for their people. With wrong examples around, people are bound to underperform, get de-motivated and hence, disengaged. This (invisible) cost is huge and most of the times, beyond the scope of recovery.

People tend to derive some “meaning” from everything you do – specially if you are a leader. Your thinking, approach, method, statements and actions are your tools to ensure that they derive the “right” meaning that helps them become more engaged with their work, be more productive and stay motivated.

Toxicity in words, deeds and thoughts of leaders builds an organization culture that is very difficult to unwind.

Category : Leadership &Leading People &Leading Projects

35 Comments → “Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership”

tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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QAspire Blog: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thanks RT @Rflectionldrshp Do you have a toxic leader? New post from @tnvora Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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Rflectionldrshp (Tom Glover)

2 years ago

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Do you have a toxic leader? Check out this post from @tnvora: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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brandleadership (John S)

2 years ago

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RT @Rflectionldrshp: Do you have a toxic leader? Check out this post from @tnvora: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thanks RT @brandleadership RT @Rflectionldrshp Check out this post from @tnvora Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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QAspire Blog: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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kman120 (kman120)

2 years ago

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RT @tnvora: QAspire Blog: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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How do you identify a toxic leader? – [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Toxicity in words, deeds and thoughts of leaders builds an organization culture that is very difficult to unwind. [link to post]

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Gagrin (Gaurang Desai)

2 years ago

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GM how r u doing ? Deeds & thoughts of Leaders RT @tnvora How do you identify a toxic leader? – [link to post]

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niravbpatel (Nirav Patel)

2 years ago

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RT @tnvora: How do you identify a toxic leader? – [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thanks Nirav RT @niravbpatel: RT @tnvora: How do you identify a toxic leader? – [link to post]

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niravbpatel (Nirav Patel)

2 years ago

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Anytime… RT @tnvora: Thanks Nirav RT @niravbpatel: RT @tnvora: How do you identify a toxic leader? – [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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“Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. More at QAspire Blog: [link to post]

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RobinHolstein (RobinHolstein)

2 years ago

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RT @LeaderTalk: @tnvora: “Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. More @ QAspire Blog: [link to post]

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PeterMoreton (Peter Moreton)

2 years ago

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RT @tnvora “Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. More at QAspire Blog: [link to post]

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LeaderTalk (Becky Robinson)

2 years ago

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RT @tnvora: “Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. More at QAspire Blog: [link to post]

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Sonia Di Maulo

2 years ago

Tanmay,

Very insightful post! From your description of a “toxic leader”, I bet most people can remember having a leader like that.

I hear many stories (almost daily) of de-motivated people sadly (and angrily) explaining what their manager said or did that day to de-rail their positive energies. The rant goes like this… “Instead of focusing on the positive, great things I did today, he focused on the one think that I agree could have been done better!” Then they start questioning whether anyone even notices ALL the good work they are doing and whether it really makes a difference.

I wonder if these “toxic” leaders ever wonder how much damage they are causing. Simply changing the way they feedback (verbally and non-verbally) can inspire and motivate their people. I like to focus on the positives first then on one item that can “make them better”. Works wonders.

Most of the time, these “toxic leaders” are not conscious of the damage – they are acting exactly how their managers are/were with them.

Your article has inspired/reminded me to continually self-observe and self-evaluate my own behavior by seeing how people react to the things that I say and do. It’s never too late to “detoxify” and make things better! “Detoxifying” is exactly what my present mission is all about: helping people offer and ask for powerful, inspiring feedback!

I truly believe that this mission can help to create better working and living environments where performance is valued, supported, recognized, and improved.

Thanks and looking forward to following your future articles!
Sonia
.-= Sonia Di Maulo´s last blog ..A Tip for Giving Powerful Inspiring Feedback =-.

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ReadyTOFeedBack (Sonia Di Maulo)

2 years ago

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Great! RT @tnvora: “Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. More at QAspire Blog: [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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New post at QAspire Blog: Invisible cost of ‘toxic’ leadership [link to post]

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Tanmay Vora

2 years ago

Sonia,

Thanks for that very insightful comment and adding value to the post. Toxic leaders are much like termites that eat things out. These leaders drain the organization.

As a leader, one needs to constantly assess their behaviors and ensure that they are building the right culture.

As I read this somewhere, the true legacy of leaders/managers is the culture they create. Why not create a great one?

Keep reading/commenting!

Best,

Tanmay
.-= Tanmay Vora´s last blog ..Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership =-.

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thank You! RT @RobinHolstein: RT @LeaderTalk: @tnvora: “Toxic” Leadership is a huge cost for your organization. [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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@LeaderTalk: Thanks for the RT of my post on “Toxic” Leadership [link to post] I hope you are doing great!

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thanks Peter! RT @PeterMoreton: RT @tnvora “Toxic” Leadership is a huge (and invisible) cost for your organization. [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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@ReadyTOFeedBack Sonia, Thanks for RT and an insightful comment on my post on “Toxic” Leadership [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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Thanks! RT @culturalofferin: The cost of toxic leadership @tnvora[link to post]

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culturalofferin (culturalofferin)

2 years ago

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The cost of toxi leadership @tnvora [link to post]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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RT @culturalofferin: The cost of toxi leadership @tnvora [link to post]

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QAspire Blog - Quality, Management, Leadership & Life! » Instinctively Reactive Leaders – Another Cost

2 years ago

[...] few weeks back, I wrote about “toxic leadership” and how it is a huge cost to organizations. This week, I was led to think about another cost – [...]

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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QAspire Blog: Two COSTS: 1) Toxic Leadership – [link to post] and 2) Instinctively Reactive Leadership – http://bit.ly/6QyMi9

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Rflectionldrshp (Tom Glover)

2 years ago

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A great pair from @tnvora: 1) Toxic Leadership – [link to post] and 2) Instinctively Reactive Leadership – http://bit.ly/6QyMi9

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PaulSchwend (Paul Schwend)

2 years ago

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RT @tnvora: QAspire Blog: Two COSTS: 1) Toxic Leadership – [link to post](expand) and 2) Instinctively Reactive Leadership – http: …

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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QAspire Blog: Two COSTS: 1) Toxic Leadership – [link to post](expand) and 2) Instinctively Reactive Leadership – http://bit.ly/6QyMi9

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tnvora (Tanmay Vora)

2 years ago

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RT Rflectionldrshp From @tnvora: 1) Toxic Leadership – [link to post] and 2) Instinctively Reactive Leadership – http://bit.ly/6QyMi9

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QAspire Blog 2009 – Essential Posts Redux

3 months ago

[...] December 2009: Invisible Cost of “Toxic” Leadership [...]

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