If I had a $1 for every story I have heard about talented individuals working in corporate organisations falling foul of bullying, intimidating and toxic leadership behaviours, I would be a very rich man.

In a career now spanning 40 years much of it involving coaching senior and members of the C-Suite, I have witnessed, advised and coached far too many individuals whose career journeys have been needlessly damaged, derailed or ended at the hands of ruthless and manipulative senior corporate leaders who seem to think it is legitimate to lead by fear and intimidation in search of corporate performance. 

Maybe you will call me naive or overly idealistic to believe that, in the highly challenging world of corporate life where the stakes are so very high and where sustained and improving performance is all, it will ever be any different. But I remain unequivocally of the view that such behaviours are not inevitable, are not only morally and ethically unacceptable, but they are ultimately severely damaging for any enterprise that tolerates them. Here is why I say this:

• Observably toxic, fear-driven leadership behaviours disable and discourage talented people from giving their best. The collective and cumulative effect of being on the receiving end of such behaviours is to suppress organisational performance and stifle innovation and the fulfilment of individual potential. 
• Confident high potential performers always have choices; rightly when confronted with excessive and unreasonable negative behaviours the very best talent will walk. If this is replicated and multiplied then this becomes extremely wasteful and expensive for the organisation; worse still it may lead to a massive drain of wisdom and expertise to your competitors.
• The culture of any organisation driven from the top by toxic behaviours will not remain a secret; it will over time become a known phenomenon amongst key stakeholders; it will tarnish the reputation of the business with customers, investors and staff. And paradoxically it will discourage talented individuals who have done their research from applying to replace the exodus of senior executives who have left as a result of the damaging culture. 
• Fear and intimidation are simultaneously both contagious and disabling. If very senior leaders use such toxic behaviours, then this sends a clear signal that such behaviours are somehow acceptable at all levels. Individuals without conscious intent may well be drawn into replicating unhealthy behaviours, seeing these as the currency for progression in the organisation i.e. if the boss is excessively tough and nasty, then it’s ok for me to be like that too. 
• An organisation that is dominated by fear and mistrust and does not encourage challenge and diversity of viewpoints is likely to be much less nimble, much more vulnerable to versatile competitors and much less able to respond to the changing needs of customers. Compelling new ideas rarely emanate from a culture where people are expected or compelled to think and act the same. 

But I hear you ask and quite rightly, what is the antidote to such toxic and damaging behaviours taking hold in an organisation, particularly if the source is from the very top of the enterprise. 

Well perhaps the first thing to say, in a more positive tone, is that the corporate world has and continues to change with regard to the tolerance of toxic leadership behaviours and the recognition of their impact on the well-being and success of an enterprise. 

In an era of clearer executive accountability, more transparency and objective governance processes and a recognition that leadership behaviours are an intrinsic part of brand reputation, owners, stakeholders and shareholders in the most enlightened organisations recognise that it is no longer acceptable to turn a blind eye to toxic and fear-driven leadership styles.  

Articulating and (most importantly) holding people accountable for a clear set of stated values that defines what is and what is not acceptable behaviours at all levels of an organisation is an essential foundation for dealing with toxic and unacceptable leadership behaviours and has worked for many organisations.

However, a big note of warning. While such values-based policies and practices are clearly a necessary condition for a more toxic-free organisation, on their own invariably these are not always a sufficiently strong basis for ensuring protection of individuals from intimidating and toxic leadership behaviours. 

Quite often, notwithstanding the stated organisational rhetoric of upholding positive behaviours, the reality on the ground can be quite different in the following ways: 

• Individuals on the receiving end of negative behaviours, might be very fearful of their own position in raising their concerns about negative behaviours particularly if they emanate from a very senior executive. 
• Additionally, and again often based upon the seniority of the offender, there might be a tendency for colleagues to turn a blind eye to such excesses or dismiss them as “that’s just the way she/he is” fearing the risk of potential kick-back and retribution.
• Even with the protection of an overarching policy, it may well also be a very tough call for anyone to directly challenge senior individuals who seemingly through their “robust” behaviours consistently achieve strong commercial results. A frequently observed situation where, despite its fine policy words, in practice the enterprise puts short term results ahead of a willingness to confront and deal with damaging behaviours. 
• For many serial bullies and fear-mongers who have climbed their way to the top of an organisation based upon the aggressive achievement of short-term results, they have often survived and thrived by frightening-off any serious feedback on their way up and/or by portraying themselves upwards and to peers as a necessarily “tough” character but not someone who is damagingly toxic. Individuals who act like this may well ultimately get found out but by the time this happens they will probably have caused very significant damage to valuable others.

So additionally, those that are in positions to oversee the business should be building processes that ensure toxic leadership behaviours cannot thrive unchecked e.g. 

• Selection criteria and processes for recruitment and/or promotion should be rigorously developed to ensure that they uncover the prior behavioural track record of any candidate for a top job. Increasingly mature recruitment processes at senior level will require some practical interactive or case study type activities so an individual can be seen in action. 
• If a search firm is employed to find candidates for executive roles, make sure they have a specific mandate to verify each individual on the short-list as free of any evidence of previous toxic leadership behaviours. This should be an overt part of the search firm earning their placement fee. 
• Board members, owners and executive advisers should have as part of their overall accountability for the health of their business, the task of listening hard to a cross-section of the organisation’s managers and staff for early indications of any toxic leadership behaviour. 
• There needs to be a very robust and confidential whistleblowing policy and process that allows individuals to privately raise concerns about leadership behaviour without fear of reprisal or alienation.
• The Performance Management system within the business as applied to senior leaders should explicitly and equally require excellent untainted evidence of outstanding leadership behaviours alongside achievement of commercial results. Any discretionary or bonus type payments should overtly be linked to evidence of highly positive leadership behaviour. 
• As part of this, confidential feedback mechanisms on how the behaviour senior leaders are experienced by others should be a required part of all performance assessments at senior levels. There are plenty of high quality 360-degree feedback tools on the market that can be used for this purpose. 
• Any proven breaches of required policy and practice should be acted upon swiftly and decisively. Simply put, if senior leaders are allowed to persist with damaging behaviour without sanction, then it sends a big signal to the wider organisation that fine words about values and respect for others don’t really matter. 
• Self-evidently enacting some of these measures will require a robust, independently-minded HR Director, Chief People Officer and team who can be objective and bold in overseeing the required high standards of leadership and who will act swiftly to deal with any issues emerging; this of course, can be very problematic for an HR Director who reports to a CEO who may themselves be the source of the toxic behaviour.

Finally, what can you do as an individual if you find yourself in a situation where some of the above organisational mechanisms are weak or not even in place? Well, it will be tough but … 

• Always try if you can to influence the situation directly with the individual by challenging and giving feedback on the unacceptable behaviours you see or experience. This of course will require bravery and may put you at risk. 
• Remind yourself that you always have a choice about what you do, and if you cannot shift and change the situation and it’s causing you personal damage give yourself the confidence of ensuring you have a parallel exit plan to be enacted if the situation becomes intolerable. 
• If you find you are regularly under attack or bullied – reinforce your own self-esteem by reminding yourself that the situation is not of your making, that you can rise above this and you will not allow the circumstance to damage you. 
• Build allies with other important stakeholders in the business who may also be on the receiving end of the toxic behaviour or have seen the impact on other colleagues. Share tactics with colleagues about how to deal with or neutralise more toxic colleagues. 
• As part of this, establish regular communication lines and rapport with others above and around the toxic offender so if you have cause to stand up against the offender then you have a channel of support and influence elsewhere.   

It is of course very sad, in the advancing years of the 21st Century that we can still have such concerns about such toxic leaders. The workplace of course should be a place of stretch, challenge and achievement for all individuals but also a place of fulfilment, enjoyment and mutual respect for colleagues. 

And if, having read this article, you would like a much fuller, in-depth insight into toxic workplace cultures and leadership including how to positively deal with these situations, please do read this excellent book by my colleague Dr Susan Hetrick.