4 Toxic Behaviors That Leaders Need to be Wary Of

If you’ve ever mentored someone then you know how baffling some people find it when they seem to be doing everything right but simply aren’t able to find the success they’re looking for. Unfortunately for these people, they’re not able to step back and look at things from a third person’s perspective (hence why they’re working with a mentor in the first place). If they could, they’d see that one challenge they face is that they have an undercurrent of toxic behaviors that undermine their success as a leader.

By identifying these toxic behaviors and modifying them (it’s often very hard to eliminate core elements of how we lead), their chances of creating success increase exponentially. These are four of the most common toxic behaviors I have seen most often in potentially incredible leaders.

1. Being Overly Enthusiastic

Every leader must have the ability to create a vision. But what sometimes happens is these visions are so out there, so literally incomprehensible by the rest of the organization, that the rest of the team simply doesn’t believe that the end can be reached.

[Tweet “Instead of only talking about vision, talk about the aspirational goals that can lead you there.”]

Use the conversation about aspirational goals to slowly take your people up to the vision that you have. You’ll not only make sure that everyone keeps up, but you’ll have their constructive input on how to get there.

2. Bullying People Into Agreement

I’ve talked about how people can manage having a bully boss but sometimes you can be a bully without intending to be mean. It especially happens when you have a vision that you strongly believe in and simply can’t get the team on the same page as you.

[Tweet “Never force people to agree to a vision, convince them through open dialog.”]

You could always get people to agree with you by forcing them but all you’ll really get is the “yes sir” answer which is so prevalent in frontier markets. You won’t get buy in to have the team perform the actions to get you there. And hence you will fail.

3. Being Envious of Other People’s Success

The grass is always greener on the other side but that’s often because the story of greener pastures is highly exaggerated. Everyone has had to face past and manage current challenges to get to where they are. Nobody’s going to be inspired by a leader who wastes time and energy being envious of others.

[Tweet “Rather than wondering why someone else is successful, learn from how they got there.”]

Even if you try to hide your envy, it will inevitably show through your actions. Just don’t go there. You’ll create your own success if you put in the right energy and actions.

4. Taking Things Personally

Have you ever worked with a leader who is just too emotional? These are the people who randomly explode during meetings or discussions. Even though what they may be saying is correct, the way they present the information just undermines your desire to respect them.

[Tweet “Nothing is ever personal in business, even if the other person intends it to be.”]

Even if you say sorry after displaying an emotional explosion during a meeting, you might end up losing the respect that you need for people to really follow you through thick and thin. Drive and vision can be separated from emotions – and almost always should be.

It’s risky to be driven for success without being aware of the dangers on the path to getting there. These are just a few.

Learn how you can take your leadership teams through a growth model which will help them mature on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and subscribing to the Keijzer Community.

Paul Keijzer is the CEO and Founder of Engage Consulting and the co-Founder of The Talent Games, which aims to transform HR by digitising talent processes and creating more engaging and productive workplaces through gamification and mobile technology. As a global HR and Leadership Management expert, Paul knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.