When leadership allows a culture to dwindle down to the lowest common denominator the results affect people, performance, productivity, brand and ultimately profit. Toxic culture is to people, products and profits what a dirty aquarium is to fish and flora that try to flourish in that environment: it damages everything!
Behaviors that indicate a culture is destructive: unethical and unprofessional conduct, broken communication , back-biting and rumor-mills, favoritism, and intimidation and self-preservation instead of teamwork.
Communication disintegrates into messages without any regard for the receiver. People communicate to their teams with sarcastic undertones and misinformation resulting in misunderstandings and distrust – no one feels like they are in the loop, and no one cares to motivate others to engage to do the work at hand.
The absence of trust permeates everyone and everything. Toxicity grows in the space between what is said and what is actually done. There is typically a high level of confusion around goals, priorities and overall vision. Instead of feeling like a valued stakeholders, employees often feel guilty that results in high stress.
Leadership is obligated to clear the air, rebuild trust, and restore integrity to foster a healthy environment where people can work with a level of satisfaction and contribution to the organization’s mission.
Tomorrow: 10 Things Every Leader Needs to Know To Build A Healthy Culture
Recent Comments