Moscow Business School expert named five signs of a toxic leader

According to a career coach, there are two types of toxic leaders: the first, regardless of the situation or the people around them, use their methods of psychological pressure, the second “pick the victim.”

When working with the first type, the employee will have to decide whether to tolerate such behavior that will lead to loss of motivation, bad mood and lower results, or to change jobs. In the second case, it is important not to become the same victim, for this it is necessary to clearly identify the signs of toxic behavior and learn to respond to them correctly:

first signwhat should alert violation of personal boundaries. This can be expressed in different ways: calls after hours, personal requests not related to the main job. It is better to immediately indicate, on your part, what actions are unacceptable for the employee. Often the administrator checks whether it will pass with this person. It is better to politely but persistently indicate the conditions under which the employee will not comply with such instructions and designate a time for work calls and messages.

The second sign is relationship manipulation.. The leader can behave outwardly quite friendly, but as soon as he needs something, he will turn into a manipulator. For example, for work that is not completed on time, the manager is offended, transfers the work interaction to a personal one, tries to make the employee feel guilty. In this situation, it is important not to succumb to such manipulations, but to transfer the dialogue to the category of exclusively work issues and practical actions.

The third sign is pressure, despotic manifestations.. The manager may give mutually exclusive instructions, set unrealistic deadlines, and when some kind of failure occurs, accuse the staff of unprofessionalism. A healthy response to this behavior could be to justify with arguments at the task receipt stage, why more time is needed or how to distribute tasks more efficiently. You should not point out to the leader about his mistakes, this can cause an even more aggressive reaction. The expert recommended speaking from the “position I” of what you think or feel at any given time.

The fourth sign is open criticism of an employee in the presence of colleagues, subordinates, partners. Switching to personalities, insults, appealing to “bystanders” – look what a bad employee. Here it is important to remember such a concept as self-respect. The employee should invite the manager to personally discuss what specific mistakes he made and how he can correct them.

The fifth sign is the depreciation of the employee’s personal merits and qualities. Regardless of the results of the work, the manager always considers it not worthy of attention, not important. First you need to learn to notice your own achievements, even small ones. Get a separate file or notebook where you will record work victories. Praise yourself, celebrate your own progress. You can practice brief informal meetings with colleagues, where you will support each other and give a positive assessment of your work.