How To Deal In A Toxic Work Culture As A Leader

As human beings we are influenced by the environment we live in. Our efficiency in our day-to-day life is determined by our mindset and our mindset is affected by culture around us at home and at office.

Be it our home or our office, it is very essential that we create a culture that is uplifting and enlightening. It is important not only for an individual but for a family, an organization and a society as a whole.

As a life coach, while working with many leaders and organizations, I observe there are two types of mindsets in the corporate world. One is promoting work life balance and other is promoting extreme hard work.

In my opinion, both are fine as long as there is a conscious and shared vision. The problem occurs when either knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally a culture is created where people’s attitude towards work is counterproductive. They are throwing weight around, blaming people, not acknowledging successes, steal credit, etc.

Such attitude and work culture are in many ways a big issue at individual and organizational level. Now I know that you might be thinking that such things happen in many organizations. Yes, it does happen, but it is not productive for the organization in the long run.

So, in this article, I have tried to shed some light on how to deal with a toxic work culture. As a leader, there are a couple of things you can ensure to avoid making your office a cursed place.

Identify The Actual Issue

First things first, you as a leader need to accept that there is something wrong within the work culture. Then as a leader, it is essential to understand the difference between working hard and working like a donkey.

Working hard is great, but only when we are working in the right direction with efficiency. If there is a loophole in the working system and because of that loophole the team has to work hard, then it cannot be considered as hard work.

I was consulting an organization where the manager of a department had an issue with the team leaders. He asked me to conduct a training session for the team leaders to improve their delegation skills. However, when I talked to the team leaders in the pre-coaching (evaluation) session, I realized that the problem was not in their delegation skills but in the environment within the office. The problem was that for any project the team leader didn’t have too much power in their hand. Practically they were at the mercy of team members’ work. If any employee was not performing well or was creating some issues, the team leaders were not authorized to take strict actions, they were authorized to report to higher authorities.

When such is the case training will never solve the issue, the best a training session can do is give a hope to the team leaders, that they can make a difference, but on practical ground, issue cannot be solved. In the long run, this creates a lot of stress on the team leaders, it negatively affects the efficiency of the entire department, and also creates a hostile work environment.

Talk To The Team

As a leader, it is essential to have a connection with your team. Leaders must have a heart-to-heart connection with his or her team members. I am not talking about some emotional connection here, but a connection where the team feels connected with the leader in such a way that they can talk to the leader without any fear.

When I discussed this with the manager, I realized that somewhere he already knew this was the issue. But because of a lack of strong decision-making, the situation got a little worse.

I sat with the manager, and we created a list of challenges that he needed to overcome in his department. After creating the list, we went through it and filtered the challenges that were within the manager's power.

After creating the list, I called a meeting of all the team leaders, and we did a brainstorming session. Given the environment and mindset of the leaders, it was okay to ask open-ended questions. We came to many effective possible solutions.

Again, when I sat with the manager, we shortlisted certain solutions and started implementing them. To make a long story short, the leaders instantly started feeling empowered and after a couple of months and after implementation of some more improvisation the department was working with efficiency.

Grow Constantly

As a team, it is essential to grow and learn. Most of the corporates grow with their business. This means when their work increases, they grow. If their work decreases or the quality of the work-demand decreases, they either stop growing or start deteriorating.

In business, changes do come, but such changes should not dictate the productivity of the team. In one of the interviews, Marc Andreessen said something about Elon Musk that explains how he has managed creativity and growth. He said, that every week Elon shows up in each of his companies, identifies an issue, and tries to resolve it. He talks to his employees, he communicates with them. This simple step makes him a very efficient leader in the long run.

The question that we can ask ourselves as a leader is how many problems or challenges we consciously identify on a monthly if not weekly basis. Overcoming challenges means growth.

If as a leader you can create a culture where challenges are welcomed, you can grow in the long run. It doesn’t matter if it is your own organization, or you are just working there. The organization may change or may not, but you as a leader will surely become better.

As a team leader, one can organize weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or even quarterly interactive sessions. Where the team members can effectively use their skills and talents and also enjoy themselves. Some good options are:

·??????? Organize a skills training

·??????? Organize a full-day camp

·??????? Organizing a sports event

·??????? Organizing an award function

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