Toxic leadership
Toxic leadership refers to a management style characterized by abusive behavior, self-centeredness, and a lack of respect for subordinates. Such leaders often create a detrimental organizational climate, leading to high turnover rates and a demoralized workforce. While they may be perceived as effective by their superiors, their actions can inflict significant harm on individuals and groups within the organization. Toxic leaders frequently exhibit traits such as narcissism, exploitation, and inadequate emotional intelligence, which undermine employee morale and creativity.
This phenomenon is particularly evident in the military, where a culture of resilience can prevent individuals from challenging toxic leaders, further perpetuating the issue. In recent years, the U.S. military has begun to address toxic leadership more formally, revising training manuals and encouraging anonymous evaluations to identify and remove abusive leaders. The allure of toxic leaders often lies in their ability to project confidence and security, drawing followers who may rationalize their participation in harmful environments due to practical or existential needs. Despite the challenges in countering toxic leadership, there are ways for individuals to document and address this behavior collectively, fostering a healthier organizational culture.
Subject Terms
Toxic leadership
Toxic leadership is characterized by a leader whose actions toward subordinates are abusive and generally self-centered or narcissistic. A toxic leader's dictatorial management style creates an unhealthy organizational climate. Although such leaders may be regarded as effective and hardworking by their superiors, their behavior toward subordinates is far different. While toxic leadership is a concern in any organization, it has drawn particular attention in the US military.
Overview
Toxic leaders may not be poisonous in all situations or with all subordinates. However, they do, by definition, inflict harm on individuals or groups, such as employees, communities, and organizations. Like school-age bullies, toxic leaders often feel inadequate and attempt to boost themselves by exerting power over others.
Toxic leaders blame others for failures and demoralize workers. They take credit for workers' accomplishments and dismiss subordinates' ideas. High turnover in a department is often an indicator of toxic leadership. When a business or organization bleeds competent workers, it may become weakened, particularly if good workers defect to the competition.
A Journal of Nursing report on toxic nurse managers identified a number of characteristics of toxic leaders, including self-centeredness, exploitation of others, controlling behavior, disrespect for others, suppression of employees' innovation and creativity, and inadequate emotional intelligence. According to the authors, toxic leadership threatens the well-being of health-care organizations. They regard this concern as particularly troubling in light of how difficult it is for such organizations to attract and retain skilled registered nurses. The authors also found that countering toxic leadership is extremely difficult when it is accepted and ignored by employers. When toxic leadership is entrenched in an organization, workers often become demoralized and resigned to the situation.
Toxic Leadership in the Military
Toxic leadership can go unchallenged and flourish within the military culture because individuals do not wish to be labeled as troublemakers. In military cultures, withstanding such abuse is regarded as a sign of strength.
Some soldiers have reported being singled out by superior officers. They said they were shunned and repeatedly given the lowest duties, such as taking out the trash. Some likened it to being bullied at school. Many attempted to commit suicide, prompting military leadership to investigate the reasons for these attempts. As part of its review, the US Army began soliciting anonymous performance evaluations of commanders. As a result, some high-ranking officers whose subordinates reported frequent abuse were removed. A similar situation in the US Navy prompted the removal of some commanders as well.
One difficulty in weeding out toxic leaders, particularly in the military, is that many qualities that make good leaders become hindrances when taken to the extreme. For example, narcissism in a leader can be beneficial: narcissistic leaders may be willing to take risks that are likely to succeed and often have phenomenal interpersonal communication skills. However, narcissists create a toxic work environment when they are unable to recognize the feelings of others, cannot take criticism, are focused on power, or fly into a rage when questioned.
In 2012, the US Army revised the leadership manual Army Doctrine Publication 6-22 to define toxic leadership and its effect on subordinates, mission performance, and the organization as a whole. Still, problems with toxic leadership in the military persisted. After a female soldier was killed by a fellow soldier in 2020 at Fort Hood, an army base in North Carolina, calls to lessen toxic leadership at the base were renewed.
Why Toxic Leaders Often Thrive
Humankind is psychologically driven to find authority figures. This need may be related to a wide variety of interests, ranging from basic concerns about security, shelter, and sustenance to a drive to find greater purpose in life. Practical needs, such as earning a paycheck to pay the bills, may take precedence over a desire to escape a toxic leader. For others, a desire to have a meaningful life leads them to accept toxic leadership as long as it promises to fulfill this existential need.
Jean Lipman-Blumen, author of The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why We Follow Destructive Bosses and Corrupt Politicians—and How We Can Survive Them (2005), cites politicians, religious leaders, and heads of hate groups as examples of toxic leaders who garner huge followings of devotees. Such leaders offer grand illusions to their followers. Uncertainty, such as the anxiety created by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, helps feed many individuals' need for orderliness, which may be promised by toxic leaders who appear to be sure of their actions and purpose.
Some individuals need to experience success vicariously through others. This need, often evident in cults or gangs, may inspire followers to orbit seemingly powerful people, no matter the cost. Such organizations often foster an "us versus them" philosophy, in which the leader is seen to be protecting the group from an enemy and reassuring followers of the group's superiority.
Followers often remain under the control of toxic leaders because they rationalize their situation. Workers may believe they will not be able to find other jobs or fear that they will lose status if they defy the leader. However, according to Lipman-Blumen, followers do have options. A worker might document a leader's toxic behavior over time and use this record to bring attention to the problem with senior leaders of the company or organization. Some people might find solidarity with other victims of a toxic leader's wrath and attempt to change the environment together as a group.
Bibliography
Doty, Joe, and Jeff Fenlason. "Narcissism and Toxic Leaders." Military Review, Jan.–Feb. 2013, pp. 55–60, usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview‗20130228‗art012.pdf. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.
Frame, Carson. "A New Army Program Is Teaching Leaders to Be More Compassionate and Less 'Toxic.'" North Country Public Radio, 27 Aug. 2021, www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/44113/20210827/a-new-army-program-is-teaching-leaders-to-be-more-compassionate-and-less-toxic. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Lipman-Blumen, Jean. "The Allure of Toxic Leaders: Why Followers Rarely Escape Their Clutches." Ivey Business Journal, Jan.–Feb. 2005. Business Source Complete, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=16264149&site=eds-live. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.
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Zangaro, George A., et al. "Recognizing and Overcoming Toxic Leadership." Journal of Nursing, RN-Journal.com / Times Publishing, 2009, rn-journal.com/journal-of-nursing/recognizing-and-overcoming-toxic-leadership. Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.
Zwerdling, Daniel. "Army Takes On Its Own Toxic Leaders." NPR, 6 Jan. 2014, www.npr.org/2014/01/06/259422776/army-takes-on-its-own-toxic-leaders. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.