People do not leave jobs; they leave a toxic workplace.
Why toxic leadership behaviours drive people away
Only 16% of employees are fully engaged at work. Eight out of ten pitch up for a pay cheque. The ADP Research Institute, with 26,000 participants in 26 countries, found that engagement and resilience are connected. Engagement strengthens resilience. Toxic leadership behaviours weaken both.
Engagement and resilience today
Post-pandemic, the landscape is bleak:
- 85% of workers are just coming to work. Only 5% of this group is resilient.
- 15% of workers are fully engaged, however 5% of this group are vulnerable.
Disengagement increased during the pandemic. A disengaged employee leaves work with unfulfilled human potential, untapped talent, and drive. Two things build employee engagement: trusting leadership and being on a team. Trust is the biggest factor, it is the foundation of engagement.
Five toxic leadership behaviours to avoid
In a recent seminar led by Garry Ridge, CEO of WD‑40, he listed ten leadership behaviours that foster a toxic environment. Here are five:
- Master of control. The need to control everything and everyone restricts the growth of your team and your organisation.
- Having all the answers. The leader who must have the last say, or add two cents to every conversation, closes off learning. As Marshall Goldsmith puts it, adding too much value detracts from the value you may get from your team.
- Micro-management. Others will do it differently, and possibly better, than you imagined. Micro-management is not scalable.
- Must always be right. Over-competitive leaders turn everything into a contest. Sometimes the best words are, “I don’t know, what do you think?”
- Hate feedback. When feedback is met with requests to reconsider or a wave of defensiveness, you set the example for your employees.
Trust changes the culture
A leader’s behaviour is amplified through the organisation. Some will perpetuate the trend they see, others will disengage or leave. The counterpoint to toxic leadership behaviours is a place where people love to come to work. In conversation with a client this morning, he summed it up well: in a positive workplace with good leadership, people have less stress, enjoy coming to work, deliver more joy to customers, and increase company performance.
From toxic workplace to healthy performance
If you recognise a touch of toxic leadership behaviours, start with trust. Build a real team, invite feedback, and let others contribute without fear. Executive coaching, team coaching, and leadership training help reset behaviours, rebuild engagement, and strengthen resilience.
