Swimming With Sharks: How To Lead In A Toxic Culture

Have you ever had an occasion where from the moment you walked into the workplace, you knew there were problems?  Do you remember encountering employees who, no matter what their leader did, were never pleased or happy with anything?  Are you in an environment where everyone seems to continually focus on the negative aspects instead of the positive?  What would you do if you were a leader in a toxic culture?

Se også relevant kursus: Robuste skrøbelige ledere skaber bedre resultater

So many people have posited that changing a culture is not an easy thing to do.  Maybe not, but there have been numerous stories told where such change did not involve a lengthy drawn out battle between those for and against change.  Sometimes all it took was getting the right leader in place.

Jim Collins, author of Good To Great, puts for the argument that getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus is the first priority for change.  Collins tells the story of Fannie Mae and its’ CEO named David Maxwell.  The organization was losing significant amounts of money when Maxwell took over and he followed Collins advice by bringing in his managers, setting his expectations and telling the managers that if they didn’t think or they didn’t want to keep up with Maxwell’s demands, it was probably best if they were to get off the bus.  Fourteen of twenty-six managers left Fannie Mae after their conversations with Maxwell.[1]

Sometimes, especially in public sector employment, you don’t have the opportunity to get the wrong people off the bus, which leaves us with the dilemma of what to do with toxic employees?  Should we transfer them?  Should we ignore them?  Should we just bide our time biting our lips in frustration until someone moves on to a different position or quits the organization?  Are these the actions of a true leader?

Another thing to consider is how does the toxic employee affect followers.  Scientific studies show that emotions are contagious.  If a leader is not careful, toxicity can quickly evolve into a viral infection spreading throughout an organization.  Can you promote quick enough to avoid the ramifications of such an outbreak?

In 1914, Admiral Ernest Shackleton led a group of explorers whose goal was to be the first men to traverse Antarctica.  Shackleton’s ship eventually was frozen and stuck in an ice floe.  The men spent approximately two years on the ice floe as they watched the ice destroy their ship and fought the battle to survive in harsh conditions.  As you can imagine, pessimism, anger and panic were always bubbling just below the surface ready to take over sanity and the patience needed to survive.  Shackleton always served as a beacon of hope but was smart enough to know who his toxic sailors were.  When it came time to organize a crew to attempt to sail a small lifeboat across an open sea to try and reach help, who do you think Shackleton chose as his crew?

If you answered the most toxic sailors, you would be correct.  Shackleton understood that if he left these sailors behind, their negativity would take over and cause the demise of all who remained behind.  Shackleton knew that if these sailors were with him, he would be able to continue his optimism and mitigate the damage they could do to others.  Shackleton and his group of toxic sailors finally made it to Elephant Island in April 1916 and were able to use another ship to rescue the remaining crewmembers in August of 1916.  Every one of Shackleton’s sailors made it home alive and well.[2]  What do you think would have happened if Shackleton had left his most toxic sailors behind with the rest of the group?  Would there have been anyone left alive to rescue?

Toxic employees are in every organization.  If left unchecked, their attitudes can become a cancer infecting every person who comes in contact with them.  The easier path is to find a way to cut them out of the organization but there are times when a surgical removal is not possible.  It is in these moments that followers look to their leaders for help just as the sailors did with Shackleton on the long cold days and nights.  No one wants to work in a negative environment where people collect grievances as often as they breathe.  What steps are you taking as a leader to protect your people from the cloud of negativity generated by toxic employees?

Se også relevant kursus: Robuste skrøbelige ledere skaber bedre resultater

[1] Collins, Jim (2001).  Good To Great, Why Some Companies Make The Leap – And Others Don’t.  New York, NY, HarperBusiness

[2] Koehn, Nancy F. (2011).  Leadership Lessons From the Shackelton Expedition, New York Times, December 24, 2011. Taken from the Internet on August 9, 2015 at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/25/business/leadership-lessons-from-the-shackleton-expedition.html