By Dr. Michele D’Amico
Every organization has talent. But not every organization has health.
A high performer who erodes trust, dominates meetings, or sabotages colleagues might deliver results in the short term but their impact is rarely contained. Over time, toxic behavior can become contagious, costing companies morale, retention, innovation, and ultimately, revenue.
A recent report from MIT Sloan found that toxic workplace culture is the single biggest predictor of employee attrition, ten times more powerful than compensation. It’s no longer enough to manage for performance. Leaders must also manage for behavior.
What Makes Someone “Toxic”?
Toxic people aren’t just difficult. They’re destructive.
While styles may vary from passive-aggression to outright bullying, most toxic behaviors share a few characteristics:
- They erode psychological safety. People around them feel anxious, undermined, or constantly on edge.
- They create confusion. They may manipulate, gossip, or withhold information to maintain control.
- They prioritize personal power over team outcomes. Their success often comes at others’ expense.
- They resist accountability. When conflict arises, they deflect, blame, or retaliate.
It’s not always loud or obvious. Some of the most toxic behaviors hide behind charm, status, or “just playing devil’s advocate.” But the result is the same: fractured teams and a workplace culture where people feel silenced, unsupported, or unsafe.
The Cost of Tolerating Toxicity
In high-pressure environments, toxic behavior is often excused if the individual is seen as valuable or irreplaceable. “She’s difficult, but brilliant.” “He gets results.” “That’s just how they are.”
But what’s the true cost?
- Turnover: Talented people leave quietly rather than confront toxic colleagues especially if they see leadership tolerating it.
- Innovation stalls: Toxicity kills collaboration. People stop sharing ideas or taking risks for fear of criticism or sabotage.
- Customer experience suffers: When internal culture is fraying, it often shows up externally through poor service or communication gaps.
- Reputation risks: Toxic behavior, especially at the leadership level, can surface publicly and damage employer brand and investor confidence.
The hard truth: One toxic hire can undo the gains of many productive ones. And the longer a toxic presence is allowed to remain, the harder it becomes to repair the damage.
Why Leaders Sometimes Miss It
Even strong leaders can miss or enable toxicity. Here’s why:
- Success bias: We reward outcomes, not always how they’re achieved. Toxic people often play politics well.
- Avoidance: Addressing behavior issues can feel uncomfortable, especially with senior talent or long-standing employees.
- Cultural camouflage: In fast-moving or high-achieving environments, toxicity can masquerade as passion, intensity, or “fit.”
This is why leadership development must include not just strategic capability, but emotional intelligence and conflict fluency.
Signs of a Toxic Work Culture
Sometimes the issue isn’t a single person, it’s a pattern. A culture that enables toxicity often includes:
- High gossip, low transparency
- Blame-shifting and micromanagement
- Inconsistent feedback or unclear expectations
- Lack of diversity in voices being heard
- Burnout masked as productivity
In short, toxicity thrives in ambiguity and fear.
What Can Organizations Do?
- Make values visible—and actionable.
Ethics, respect, collaboration – these can’t just live on the wall. Embed them into hiring, promotion, and feedback systems. Make behavioral accountability as important as performance reviews. - Address issues early.
Toxicity rarely improves on its own. Train managers to spot early warning signs and intervene with clarity and consistency. - Model leadership behavior from the top.
Leaders set the tone. When senior executives operate with emotional intelligence, humility, and transparency, those values cascade through the organization. - Create safe channels for feedback.
Psychological safety means employees feel they can report toxic behavior without fear of retaliation. Confidential reporting mechanisms and anonymous pulse surveys can help surface concerns. - Don’t confuse “tough” with “toxic.”
Healthy accountability challenges people. Toxicity shames them. High standards are valuable but only when paired with respect and support.
What If the Toxic Person Is in Leadership?
This is the most challenging and the most urgent. A toxic leader shapes not just a team, but an entire culture. Whether due to fear, ego, or blind spots, their influence extends far and wide.
Removing a toxic leader may feel risky. But keeping them is often costlier. Boards, HR leaders, and executive teams must be willing to act decisively. If reform is possible, coaching and clear expectations are essential. If not, separation is sometimes the most ethical and strategic move a company can make.
Final Thoughts: Culture Is a Leadership Choice
Toxicity is not inevitable. It’s a sign of where accountability has lapsed, where empathy has been deprioritized, and where power has been misused. But it can be addressed and replaced with clarity, care, and courage.
Organizations that thrive in the future won’t just have the smartest people. They’ll have the healthiest cultures. Cultures where leadership means lifting others up, not tearing them down. Where power is shared, not hoarded. And where integrity isn’t optional it’s expected.
Because in the end, the businesses that rise aren’t just the ones who outpace their competitors.
They’re the ones who outgrow their dysfunction.
