Example Of A Toxic Leader

A toxic leader can be defined as leader motivated by egocentrism, self-interest and show no concern for those below him, and his actions negatively affect the organizational climate. They exalt themselves in turf protection, fighting and controlling their followers instead of uplifting them. Toxic leaders are very destructive and they only focus on short term accomplishments and they destroy their followers to achieve those objectives. Their decisions are made hasty and they change their decisions without any justified rationale. Mostly, they lazy around only to make hasty decisions when it is too late and the crisis is already in place. Such decisions have no time to be thought over and therefore, they are continuously changed throughout implementation so as to work effectively and may even be altered completely thereby making the whole process messy (Seeger, 2005).

Poor leadership, or the more widely known phrase “toxic leadership”, has been a topic of concern throughout the history of the Army. The Army’s recently published leadership doctrine says that, “Army leaders motivate people both inside and outside the chain of command to pursue actions, focus thinking, and shape decisions for the greater good of the organization.” (ADP 6-22, 2012) There are many examples of leaders in recent years that have been relieved due to negative effects on their organizations. Poor leadership is commonly portrayed by telltale characteristics of those in leadership positions, revealed by detrimental effects on subordinates and mission accomplishment, and must be addressed through consistent education and

In today’s business environment, leadership is a major topic of discussion and concern. Having the right leaders in place could be the difference between a successful business and unequivocal failure. There are many different leadership styles that are proven to be effective and then there is the type of leadership that leads a business in the opposite direction. This type of leadership is known as toxic leadership. Research has shown there to be many defining characteristics of a toxic leader and there are identifiable signs that may be indicative of a toxic workplace. The effects of this type of leadership and the environment that it creates can be far-reaching. However, there are ways to assist individuals with protecting themselves from a toxic leader and the negative results of working in a toxic environment.

Leadership is critical and it refers to the process of influencing followers towards achieving the groups’ goals. Toxic leadership refers to the leadership offered by leaders who abuse power and leave the group they lead in a poorer condition after they are left. Toxic leadership is associated with incompetence, insularity, evil, intemperance (lack of self control), callousness, rigidity and corruption among other bad leadership characters. The leaders involved in toxic leadership are not concerned about uplifting the people they lead (followers). Instead, they make sure they satisfy their self interests. They fight and control instead of caring for their followers. In most cases, the leaders with this leadership style are leaders who bully, abuse, and discriminate the subordinates. In addition, they create a hostile climate, self serving and arrogant, threaten and even yell at their followers among other fierce characters. They do not lead based on their qualifications. However, they apply force to be in leadership positions thus making the lives of their followers a misery . They are selfish in that they work to promote themselves without regard to the welfare of their followers. In most cases, do this by not minding about the future of their group and its members. This paper explores the effects of toxic leadership in the United States.

However, leadership failures can be prevented to an extent. Toxic leaders are essentially bad leaders who create hostile environments

The first step in preventing a toxic leader from continuing to lead is to identify them as a toxic leader. Brock Young identifies 8 ways, which he

I think an unfit leader is someone who does not listen to others and dismiss ideas because they did not think of it first. Someone with bad managerial traits is likely not a bad person (Olavessen, L.J 2014). They usually have a bad ego and lack empathy. An unfit leader may not listen to feedback from others. An unfit leader is usually inconsistent. It only takes one bad leader to mess everything up for everyone else.

One of the profound challenges that the United States of America faces today is poor leadership. I’m not just speaking about the President of the United States, but all those that are leading our great country. Our leaders today have poor communication skills, self-serving nature, poor character nevertheless they are not looking forward to helping the United States of America.

It is the purpose of this paper to discuss toxic leadership and the effects it can have on a new second lieutenant. The Army needs to be concerned with toxic leadership, because of the seriousness of consequences that are caused by leadership failure, which in the worst case scenarios can lead to death or mutiny. The proposed solutions to toxic leadership in this paper will provide future officers and newly commissioned second lieutenants possible ways to combat toxic leadership and ways to prevent it. Firstly, this paper will address what is a toxic leader, and how to identify one. Secondly, this paper will explain how a toxic leader affects your platoon. Next, this paper will explain why toxic leadership is tolerated with the Army. Lastly, this paper will provide solutions on how to deal with toxic leadership, and what measures can be implemented to mitigate the risks of it happening.

Justin Racz’s “50 Bosses Worse Than Yours” introduces an observation on the account of working with a bad boss. This featured video gives an outline of bad bosses based on author’s personal experience. In the beginning of the segment, we are asked a simple question, “Just what makes a boss bad? As a rule, they do not have the relationship building abilities necessary to be prominent business leaders. Bad bosses have been described as patronizing and dishonest individuals who do not think about the welfare of their employees in the workplace. With a bad boss you can expect a strained work atmosphere and stressful environment. The working conditions turn out to be severe to the point that numerous employees consider leaving their jobs in light

I have held many leadership roles throughout my nursing career: Certified Nursing Assistant Team Leader, Nursing Supervisor, Unit Manager, Assistant Director of Nursing, and most recently I was promoted to the position of Director of Nursing. It has been quite a rewarding journey and I attribute my success as a leader to my ability to uphold a representation of a positive role model. I believe that good leadership comes from the heart. When a leader considers the hearts of others or empathizes with them; the leader is able to effectively sway people to action. Thus, I tend to inspire my team and myself to work together in solving problems or completing a work. I communicate effectively my goal to my team; with the awareness that my success

You bring up many valid points in your post. I too have seen a number of quality soldiers exit the Army only because of toxic leadership. In my experience, it only takes one toxic leader a short period to destroy the motivation of a quality soldier. Some of the people I have seen leave the Army were under the impression that Army leaders have changed over the years, and this is simply the new environment within the Army and Special Forces. At this point, it was too late to convince them to come back. They had already made up their mind that they were going to get out and find a better job without all of the frustrations. I like your concept of raising quality leaders from within our ranks in order to avoid the toxic leadership

Cherry, K. (2014). What is Transformational Leadership? Retrieved October 25, 2014, from about education: psychology.about.com/od/leadership/a/transformational.htm

Ulysses is a bad leader.Although Ulysses seems like a good leader, he makes poor decisions and kills all his men leading people to only conclude that he is a bad leader. First of all he gets his men in a mess with a very powerful god. Second half of his crew and two of his ships are lost to giant cannibals yet he still ventured homeward. Third he killed all of his men, and still went home without a care about any of his men or how their family feels. That is why Ulysses is a bad leader. He may be quick witted but he is dangerous.He puts the rest of his men in danger.

There are different forms of leadership that can successfully operate a workplace. However, if the different types of leadership are applied incorrectly it can cause employees to become dissatisfied or have a poor attitude. Dr. Enter