Surviving the Toxic Manager
Posted on July 12, 2024 by David Luscher, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
Identifying Red Flags and Protecting Your Well-Being
I searched Amazon for books about Leadership and received 60,000 results. Barnes and Noble has 16,838 titles in their current inventory and the website Goodreads returned over 85,000 results upon my last search. It would appear that there is no shortage of advice on how to lead people properly. And yet, even with so much information available, toxic managers are still a problem in the workplace.
If you’ve not yet dealt with a supervisor who uses toxic techniques to control their staff, give it time, you probably will. According to a survey by GoodHire, 82% of American workers have left a job because of a bad manager, and over 70% currently employed would consider leaving due to poor management. Additionally, a Gallup poll revealed that 50% of Americans have left a job specifically to get away from a bad manager. But what qualities make someone bad at managing people?
I believe it’s important to define this before trying to figure out how to deal with it. Not every unpopular manager is a bad one. Some have to make tough decisions based on the staff they’re working with and while not everything they do will be met with unanimous agreement, that doesn’t mean they are bad at managing people.
Therefore, I’ve compiled a list of the most common bad management techniques. The “Toxic Managers Playbook”. While this list isn’t meant to be exhaustive, it is a list of red flags we all should be aware of:
1. Micromanagement: Constantly overseeing and controlling the smallest details of an employee’s work, leading to a lack of trust and autonomy.
2. Withholding Information: Deliberately keeping key information from employees to control outcomes and maintain power.
3. Gaslighting: Undermining an employee’s perception of reality, making them doubt their abilities and instincts.
4. Playing Favorites: Showing preferential treatment to certain employees, causing division and resentment within the team.
5. Scapegoating: Blaming one or more employees for problems or failures regardless of actual responsibility.
6. Intimidation and Bullying: Using fear, threats, or aggressive behavior to control or coerce employees.
7. Overloading with Work: Assigning excessive tasks or unrealistic deadlines to put pressure on employees and set them up for failure.
8. Isolation: Excluding an employee from important meetings or communications to marginalize them.
9. Subjective Performance Reviews: Providing biased and unfair feedback to keep employees uncertain about their standing and future.
10. Emotional Manipulation: Playing on emotions such as guilt, sympathy, or loyalty to gain compliance or suppress dissent.
11. Public Humiliation: Criticizing or reprimanding employees in front of their peers can cause embarrassment, anxiety, and a hostile work environment.
12. Unrealistic Expectations: Setting goals that are impossible to achieve can lead to burnout, frustration, and a sense of failure among employees.
13. Lack of Recognition: Not acknowledging employees’ hard work and achievements can diminish motivation and job satisfaction.
14. Poor Communication: Inconsistent or unclear communication can lead to misunderstandings, mistakes, and a lack of direction.
15. Constant Negative Feedback: Focusing only on what employees do wrong without providing constructive feedback can lead to a lack of confidence and disengagement.
The impact of toxic management is profound, contributing to high turnover rates, disengagement, and decreased productivity. These people often exhibit behaviors such as poor emotional regulation, and lack of empathy, which can erode psychological safety and increase stress among employees. This toxic environment leads to significant negative outcomes for both individuals and organizations, including poor mental health.
It’s important to always remember that these problems can’t be fixed from the ground up. They are allowed to flourish because of poor leadership from the C-Suite on down. If you find yourself in a toxic workplace, know you’re not going to change it by yourself. However, what we can do is utilize strategies to prevent this behavior from ruining our mental and physical health. In upcoming articles, I’ll be sharing many of these strategies on how to protect yourself from toxic behavior in the workplace.
In the meantime, make a list of scenarios where toxic techniques that you’ve experienced have created fear and anxiety for you. Being aware of what most triggers you will help in addressing how to deal with it.
