How To Manage A Toxic Leader? Tips from an Asian Leader - Henry Chan

Taken from my interview with Mr. Henry Chan, Executive Director of HKJC - Hong Kong Jokey Club

Starting from a trainee position 41 years ago, Mr. Henry Chan has risen from the ranks to top leadership position of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a multi-billion dollar Asian Organisation from which he will retire at the end of the year. Mr. Chan shares his experiences and valuable tips and recipes for Positive and Effective Leadership.

Avi Liran: It is known that toxic leadership demoralizes and hurts teams’ cohesion, harmony and performance. Left unmanaged and unchecked, it damages trust, loyalty, accountability, willingness to share ideas and innovate, thus hampering productivity and hurting business results. It creates paralyzing fear, increases overhead of unnecessary communication to avoid being blamed and encourages finger pointing, rather than promoting taking ownership and needed initiatives. As decision making are pushed up, the organisation loses agility and productivity. It poses long term damage to the employer brand reputation and increases cost of rehiring with higher turnover.

Mr. Chan, I am often asked: “My boss is smart, he delivers expected results and knows how to manage relationships upwards. But he is a very toxic towards us. He only cares about results and deadlines and not for his people. He micromanages everyone. He often gives unclear instructions, changes them and complains that we do not understand. He favours and trusts only the people that are with him for many years. He hardly ever recognizes my contribution and frequently criticizes me in public".

As an Asian leader, how do you deal with toxic leaders in your organisation?

Henry Chan: I have the good fortune that I have not encountered working for a toxic leader or with a toxic peer. I was promoted to a position that reports direct to the CEO thirty years ago and the five CEOs I have worked for are all great leaders. The other directors on the board of management I have worked with are all seasoned and competent leaders. We have different management styles and personalities and we may have some heated debates sometimes but we all work as a team and are able to resolve the issues in a rational manner. It is our corporate slogan : One Club, One Team, One Vision. So teamwork is one of the core values of the Club and is embedded in our corporate culture. It has helped in shaping the leadership style and acceptable behavior of our managers.

I suppose your question is about what do I do with people whom I have not direct authority to direct. My answer is very simple: I can only rely on my influencing skills and I myself have to practice what I preach in order to convince others. Of course, if the situation warrants and I have already done what I can, I will have to bring the matter to the attention of the boss of the person and let him deal with it. The organisation can’t afford toxic leadership. If there are such leaders, it is important to identify the issue early and treat it with no delay in three stages:

1. Counselling: It is important to give the benefit of the doubt. Different people react differently under pressure and stress. Sometimes people experience significant negative events in their lives that affect their mood, ability to communicate effectively and lead positively. Often, that leader is unaware of his/her toxic behaviour. The first thing is to make the “toxic leader” aware of his/her situation, the effect and implications on his/her team. After I make sure that I am not jumping to conclusions, I offer my time to counsel that leader and help him/her to overcome this temporary downturn. Sometimes, a toxic leader needs professional help. We can help that leader by assigning professional experts that can coach him/her to make the necessary adjustments.
2. Change of responsibilities: Not every successful executive can be a positive leader. I have met in my life people who were great individual contributors but did not have what it takes to lead others effectively. If counselling and coaching fail and that leader is a good professional who delivers, we will discuss possibilities for another job within the organisation where that person can contribute with her/his strengths and flourish. Perhaps that person will be even happier when given an opportunity to work as an expert, internal adviser or any job that he/she can work well without managing other people. However, moving out of leadership roles may require an adjustment to their expectations in terms of career growth and compensation.
3. Manage them out: Sometimes you simply do not have any other choice. If you tried to counsel, offered coaching, tried to find alternative job and that did not work out, you can have a clear conscience that you did your best to assist that leader. It is a painful but crucial decision to let that person go and fire him/her. During my 41 years in HKJC, I had to fire people who were either under-performing or were culture misfits like toxic managers. I try to put myself in their shoes. What do they think? How do they feel? How can I ease the burden of being dismissed? How can I help them while managing them out? The fact that they did not make it in our organisation does not mean that they will not make it elsewhere. When possible, I will even try to offer my help with connections to other possible employers. However, if there is an integrity issue, I will not be “sweet”. I will take tough and decisive actions. If needed, I will even call the police to handle them.

Stay tuned for the next part of my interview with Mr. Henry Chan, Executive Director of Hong Kong Jockey Club

* Special thanks to my editor PG

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Avi Liran, Chief Joy-Care Officer, Global Speaker, Positive Leadership and Happiness @ Work Expert. Consulting and coaching positive CxOs how to add meaningful fun and playfulness to uplift and refresh values ,and culture and unleash creativity. Based in Singapore www.ha-p.com +65 6887 5080