3 Habits Of Leaders That Create A Toxic Team Culture
You might have heard the saying: People don't leave jobs; they leave managers.
If the leaders they work under are the very ones guilty of creating a toxic work culture, you can be sure that employee turnover in these environments is above average. The notion of a toxic work culture being the leading cause of employee turnover is not a hypothesis. It is proven by a study from MIT Sloan Management Review which revealed employees are 10.4 times more likely to quit their jobs if they experience toxic team cultures.
The problem is some leaders might not even know that what they are doing, or saying, is perpetuating a toxic culture within the team.
Below are three habits you may have witnessed, or perhaps have been unconsciously doing (if you are a leader), which can contribute to an unhealthy team culture in your workplace.
Habit 1: Encouraging gossip
Gossip is a bad thing. It's hurtful, never stays private, and creates problems impacting the entire company. It shouldn't be surprising — if you're gossiping about someone or something in your workplace, you create negative vibes for everyone involved. Besides potentially affecting the mental and physical health of the person in the hot seat, gossip only erodes trust and sows discord in the team.
As it is, there are many other potential trigger points that can cause tension in the workplace, and gossip only adds fuel to the fire. A leader should never permit gossip in their team. Even if they are not the instigator or actively participating in it, the moment they hear gossip but turn a deaf ear to it, that shows the team that they condone people talking behind each other's backs.
Leaders should encourage healthy forms of communication and conflict resolution so that all conflicts are brought to the surface and dealt with.
Habit 2: Focusing on competition, not collaboration
People often confuse competition and motivation. There are leaders who believe that the only way to get ahead is to focus on competition. Truth is, they might not be wrong. It can stir up the competitive spirit in individual team members who then charge full steam ahead to achieve the KPIs and goals, often at the expense of others.
These leaders who fall into the habit of encouraging competition might not realise that this instead encourages an individualistic culture where it's every man for himself. It creates an environment of scarcity in which there is always a winner and a loser. Team members could end up stepping on each other to come up on top, which tears the team down instead of building it up. Breeding competition might achieve promising performance in the short run, but it might be detrimental to the success of the team in the long haul.
Instead of competition, leaders should focus on fostering collaboration. When your team is encouraged to work together, they're more likely to be engaged and invested in the team's overall success.
Habit 3: Micromanaging, not empowering
Micromanagement is a leadership style where leaders monitor and control their employees' work. While it might be applicable and effective in some situations, it often leads to negative consequences for both the leader and the team.
If team members feel like they are constantly being monitored, it gives off the impression that their leader is undermining their ability to do their job properly. It can also demotivate team members who feel that they are just "minions" who have no ownership or say over how to get their job done. This can lead to feelings of resentment, which in turn impacts team dynamics and morale.
Many leaders might not be aware that their actions result in them being labelled as "micromanagers". They might misconstrue their actions as them being "good leaders". Instead of assigning tasks and instructing them exactly what to do, leaders should form the habit of seeking opinions from their team members on what tasks they would like to take up and how they would approach that particular task. That empowers and motivates team members in their decision-making and overall development.
Final Thoughts
Leaders have the power to set the tone for the workplace, which in turn directly impacts the culture that is built.
When leaders are self-aware and mindful of the habits they display, they can create a positive and productive culture that builds high-performing teams with highly engaged team members.
Written by Rachel Chai
Connectedness • Empathy • Strategic • Belief • Context
Rachel is a Strengths School™ Certified Strengths Trainer and the Content Lead at Strengths School™. Being deeply introspective, she believes in helping others draw connections between how their unique strengths play out in their lives.
