Working for someone who pushes and challenges you to achieve more can do wonders for your self-esteem, and career progression.
Working for a toxic boss however not only drains energy and confidence, it can be detrimental to your mental health.
The Office Psychopath
I’m sure most people reading this (or listening to or watching the links below) have had experience working with a toxic boss, or a toxic colleague. So, let’s first start by classifying what is meant by the definition ‘toxic’.
A great book on this topic is Taming Toxic People by David Gillespie, who uses the term ‘office psychopath’. The word psychopath comes from the Greek word ‘psyche’ meaning mind, and ‘pathos’ meaning suffering or disease. While the term ‘office psychopath’ is not classified in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders), the official psychiatric diagnosis equivalent to psychopathy is antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) which is “a condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behaviour”.
Jekyll and Hyde
“When you first meet them they are incredibly charming. They tell you everything you want to hear and seem like the most genial and wonderful people you’ve met in your life” says Gillespie.
“Very shortly after they are different. People often describe it as a Jekyll and Hyde nature where they’re fine when they are ingratiating themselves with you, and suddenly they’re plain nasty or dismissive towards you.”
Toxic people use fear and intimidation in an attempt to control others. They are untrusting and question everybody else in their team, resulting in team members ‘jumping at shadows’. Toxic leaders often pick on team members and can be classified as corporate bullies. They try to embarrass or threaten employees and generally exhibit narcissistic traits and abuse their position of power.
The quintessential component according to Gillespie is “a complete lack of remorse or guilt, emotionally shallow, callous or lack of empathy and failure to accept responsibility for their own actions”.
“At their core, toxic bosses lack the ability to ‘feel’ our emotions”.
7 Signs of a Toxic Boss
Jekyll and Hyde
“When you first meet them they are incredibly charming. They tell you everything you want to hear and seem like the most genial and wonderful people you’ve met in your life” says Gillespie.
“Very shortly after they are different. People often describe it as a Jekyll and Hyde nature where they’re fine when they are ingratiating themselves with you, and suddenly they’re plain nasty or dismissive towards you.”
Toxic people use fear and intimidation in an attempt to control others. They are untrusting and question everybody else in their team, resulting in team members ‘jumping at shadows’. Toxic leaders often pick on team members and can be classified as corporate bullies. They try to embarrass or threaten employees and generally exhibit narcissistic traits and abuse their position of power.
The quintessential component according to Gillespie is “a complete lack of remorse or guilt, emotionally shallow, callous or lack of empathy and failure to accept responsibility for their own actions”.
“At their core, toxic bosses lack the ability to ‘feel’ our emotions”.
7 Signs of a Toxic Boss
Warning: Make Sure it Doesn’t Become a Self-fulfilling Prophecy
For anyone who has worked for a toxic boss, you know first-hand just how they can impact all facets of your life. One of the first things that goes is your confidence, or self-esteem. Due to the nature of constantly being attacked or criticized, when you work for a toxic bass you start to second-guess your skill set and the worth you bring to the company. Even worse, if you don’t get support to break the (toxic) cycle, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Example: You have a boss who constantly condemns you and says you can’t sell, you spend a disproportionate amount of time stressing about what your boss said and how poorly they spoke to you, then you spend a lot less time building or nurturing relationships with clients, and …
Financial and Emotional Damage Caused by a Toxic Boss
A recent study by the University of Manchester’s Business School examined 1,200 participants from several countries working in a range of industries. The first point they noticed is working for a toxic boss dramatically reduces levels of job satisfaction.
But even more alarming, is the lack of job satisfaction went a step further and encroached on employees personal lives too, with a number of the sample suffering from stress, anxiety and depression. Researchers discovered that employees working for a highly narcissistic or psychopathic boss were more likely to experience clinical depression.
Toxic Behavior Spreads Like Wildfire
The impact of a toxic leader’s behaviour can spread throughout an entire organisation, like a roaring bushfire jumping from tree to tree, leaving a path of destruction behind it. Researchers found that toxic leader’s behavior can destroy an entire culture with employees being highly critical of each other and modeling the so-called leader’s aggressive behaviour.
Researchers from the University of Michigan found similar results when examining workplace incivility. They discovered toxic behaviour (including constant belittling, put-downs and negativity) led mental fatigue. It is estimated workplace incivility costs companies $14,000 per employee due to lost productivity.
Most Likely Industries?
An Australian study found close to 1 in 5 CEO’s displays signs of being a corporate psychopath.
“Corporate psychopaths (or toxic bosses) are social predators and like all predators they are looking for feeding grounds – wherever you get power, prestige and money you will find them”. Dr Robert Hare, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.
Corporate psychopaths believe they are superior to other people and are drawn to occupations that give them power and control over others. Psychologist Kevin Dutton from Oxford University has compiled ‘The Great British Psychopath Survey’ and has been steadily collecting data that tells us the professions most likely to attract psychopaths (in descending order) include:
Surviving the Toxic Boss
Reference Sources:
Taming Toxic People: The science of identifying and dealing with psychopaths at work and at home. David Gillespie, 2017.
Study Reveals How Damaging a Toxic Boss Really Can Be. Forbes Magazine. Amy Morin. Jan 2017.
Personal Experience
Have you had experience with a toxic boss?
And, how did you survive?