An Update on Toxic Leadership: When Team Members Volunteer to Fight Toxicity

-

When Employees Volunteer to Fight Toxicity

© PatAhern_AdVision


The subject of toxic leadership is endless. I owe this update to Pat Ahern of AdVision  who brought up the issue of team, leadership and toxicity. Thanks, Pat for reminding me of the importance of this subject. Incidentally, concurrent circumstances made me rethink the leadership role in team growth. So, yes, toxic leadership can generate quite a toxic environment and harm team spirit in one way or another. As managers become enablers of resistance to change for fear of losing long-time employees, they have a tendency to become irrelevant themselves. Relevancy is not measured by tenure. It is about adaptability, agility, understanding of changed and evolving principles, practices and needs. As a side note, could irrelevancy also be linked to subordination? The terms that define subordination status could certainly impact leadership relevancy. In a way, one can be only as good as he/she is allowed to be. When it comes to leadership I think that not only self-relevancy but also adequacy of interventions matter. My article referring to Netflix and its approach to transformation reminds us that sometimes different steps are needed to move along and bring about change if capacities or mindsets become irrelevant. On the bright side, when employees come to you and voluntarily commit to fight negativity and toxicity in the workplace in your support, it tells you three things:
  1. You have an engaged, and potentially successful employee. You also have a team player. Think talent pipeline and succession planning. 
  2. You must have done something right. So, keep on building your strengths and don't be deterred by internal partners who cannot overcome old managerial practices. If you are the HRM, think coaching , and coaching. If it does not work, then maybe time to reassess?
  3.  Feel free to move forward, however/whatever your case could be . Break through!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNICATION, SAFETY & WORKPLACE: "Je suis Charlie"

-
Image
©AR_HRComatrix_SCharlie C ommunication is powerful, today more than ever, with social media . Frontiers are erased . Time elapses. Things and situations take a different dimension. Everything is "here and now ". This week, " Je suis Charlie " has been the most recent and poignant picture of the power of communication. All started and ended in the workplace . Chilling for HR and Safety people. P eople all the over the world spend most of their time at work . The typical workday is about six to eight hours in the the US with the new approach to the notion of full time job . In France it is typically eight hours, with often some flexibility, and despite the official 35 hours a week. . How can we protect workers against unexpected violence since they spend most of their time at work? H R is not about damage control ; it is about proactivity . Disturbingly enough, only 31% of workplaces in the US seem to be proactive in emergency preparedness, acco
Read more

Holistic HR - Part II: Socially Distant and Staying Relevant

-
Image
Ted_HRComtx_HolisticHR © Carving a Path for 2021 I t is said that silence is death, and that no news is good news. I have to say that I have been like many of us: affected in one way of another by Covid, being socially distant within relevancy. New resolutions? At least, carving a new path... in this icy cold world full of hot topics. It is not easy: it takes daring and willingness.   T he new year - already not feeling so new by now - has to be better in many ways, because it is practically a call to duty. What the pandemic has brought to us is not isolation but the exposure to a global environment that could reveal itself to be highly toxic , as well as the possibility of exacerbation of some situations of at-risk people . As we advance into 2021 we see the emergence of Wellbeing vs. Wellness verbiage because if anything last year has brought to light, it is the awareness of the importance of mental health .  This is more than ever a reason to understand and embrace that the whol
Read more

CATCHING FIRE: WORDS of WISDOM ABOUT and FROM MILLENNIALS- LESSONS FROM MILLENNIALS Part II -

-
Image
A lot has been said about Millennials. There are you tube videos , articles , blogs , research and polls... Most of them trying to help us understand this new generation. They appear as aggressive, daring, intimidating,  careless, smart, fast, clueless, in sum "different," regardless on who sees them. They certainly have many faces. Turning a New Leaf With Millennials © 2013 AR_HRCom-Millennials Those of us who have been working side by side with them have most likely experienced mixed feelings. It is basically turning a new leaf. Let's move toward greener fields! These young  partners can be exuberant and very lively and their concerns about professional or personal life can feel overwhelming. Often times you get what you see and hear. Does it make your assessment easier? I doubt. To me the challenge in assessment comes from the necessity to distance oneself from the individual. The ability to intellectualize things in this matter is a real gift. I can dea
Read more

Holistic HR - Part I: Is Mental Wellness Relevant?

-
Image
Ad_HRComtx_1_620 © A s we are navigating the new ways of work, one aftermath of the pandemic for many of us is the unpleasant discovery of unvisited or neglected matters: our mental wellness. More than ever HR has to embrace its evolving approach to its core responsibility: HR is about "the whole person". T he pandemic has brought to the surface so many elements that neither HR nor the people had thought about, although always existing. To me, the two major concerns about mental wellness are depression and domestic violence. I have to admit that I never seriously thought about it until I lost sleep myself and couldn't understand why I was so inexplicably restless and unfocused. Quite a few people I talked to shared similar occurrences. This can only be exacerbated by the sense of isolation from familiar working environment as we work from home or are still transitioning to go back to work. If any of this happened to you, you are quite normal in highly abnormal ti
Read more

HEALTHCARE BENEFITS & ACA REQUIREMENTS SNAPSHOT

-
Image
© 2014 AR_HRCom-Ad_Healthcare Here we are stepping into January 2014, and the healthcare subject is of a major concern to employees and employers alike. Until now, decisions on eligibility for voluntary benefits has been the employer's prerogative. Health benefits were by essence not a mandated benefit. The landscape of healthcare regulations has dramatically changed with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Nothing seems to be really firmly set yet. One thing appears to be certain: the cost is skyrocketing at all levels . By now, large employers have already rolled out their programs and made necessary addition to their benefits staff. Individuals who wanted coverage to start with the new year have already filed their applications. It is somewhat different for smaller employers since their mandate on Healthcare coverage requirements is being delayed. In any event, here are a few key points as a reminder or a reference for those of us who still need it. QUICK RE
Read more

WORK LIFE / BALANCE DEBATE - Part I: A BUSINESS, A HR, OR PERSONAL CHOICE?

-
Image
W ork/Life balance exists and is possible for privileged functions. It is undeniably  accessible at both ends of the spectrum: high- and low-end positions, and globally, to a certain extent. The difference is in income stability and real choices . Is work/life balance just empty words or an intellectual speech for some of us? In a SHRM article, it is defined as a myth . So true, it is a matter of priorities. ACC Report- 2014 (on In-House Counsels) TOUCH: THREE ASPECTS OF WORK/LIFE BALANCE   Until you know first hand through one way or another about a specific subject, it is just talk, intellectualized talk. If you have ever been in a French environment, you would know about dwelling into that intellectual talk . Somehow inexplicably satisfying.  So, flexibility, let's talk about it, really: you have to touch and feel it. Then you would be able to say that you know it, from an individual standpoint. There are three major faces of Work/Life Balance. 1- Work/Life Balan
Read more