Based on research by Rebecca Trotter, DBA, Maureen Wetzel, DBA, J.Lee Whittington, PhD, and Brian Murray, PhD.
Bullies create a toxic culture of dissonance where fear, anger, pessimism, and dysfunctional extreme individualism are obvious. In an effort to understand these toxic work cultures there is a tendency to focus solely on the leader. However, this research shows that destructive leadership is actually rooted in a more complex reality that includes followers and the organizational context in a dynamic and interdependent system. According to this perspective, the bullying leader preys on vulnerable followers in an environment that is conducive for fueling this destructive fire of abusive leadership.
Key Points
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The presence of bullying as a leadership style is common in a variety of organizations. It is a harsh form of power wielding that is characterized as abusive, or toxic leadership. Bullies are abusive leaders who engage in a sustained pattern of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
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Abusive leaders create toxic environments that drive employees toward antagonism, hostility, and alienation. Employee devotee motional energy on self-protection, performance lags, organizational commitment wanes, and turnover increases.
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The abusive leader-follower relationship leads to the creation of a climate of fear which perpetuates a toxic work environment for all employees.
Why This Matters
Leadership–good or bad–is a process that involves the leader, the follower, and the contexts in which leaders and follower interact. The emergence and perpetuation of a toxic leader results in a climate of fear that in turn reinforces the abusive leader’s tactics. The interaction of the toxic leader, susceptible followers, and a conducive environment form a toxic triangle that allows a destructive fire to start and continue burning, creating a climate of fear. The costs associated with toxic environments are enormous, and are estimated to cost organizations as much as $23.8 billion annually.These costs include the impact on employee well-being as well as decreased prosocial behaviors, lower levels of in-role job performance, and lower job satisfaction.
These toxic environments are not limited to corporations. Sadly, they include not-for-profits and faith-based institutions as well. The fall from grace of Bill Hybels at the highly influential and innovativeWillow Creek Church serves as an example of what happens when external metrics are emphasized over the internal health and well-being of the organization’s members. In order to prevent the emergence and perpetuation of abusive and toxic leaders, there must be strong internal controls and boards who are willing to seek information directly from employees without the filtering of self-serving leaders and enabling followers.
Want to know more?
Allowing bad leaders to go unchecked can perpetuate a toxic work environment that results in negative effects for the entire organization if not checked.•Arming individuals with the necessary skills to spot and interact with bully leaders is critical in being able to overcome and impact toxic work environments for the better.
Related Links:
- What Makes a Bad Leader
- How Bullying Manifests at Work and How to Stop It
- How to Confront a Bully at Work
- How To Spot Manipulative People and Work Strategies to Deal with Them
Based upon the following peer-reviewed manuscript: Trotter, R., Wetzel, M., Whittington, J.L., & Murray, B. “Fear-Based Followership, the Bully Leader, and a Climate of Fear: A Social Constructionist Perspective.” Manuscript accepted for presentation at Western Academy of Management, March 2023.
