Experiences of toxic leadership

Friends to foes

2 min read

Company type
In small to medium companies and NGOs

Toxic pattern
sabotage
threats
harassment

“I was a junior assistant, and she was leading the legal department. At first, we started off well. As I was new to the city, she took care of me, and invited me to join her friend group and meet new people. I considered us to be friends. One of my responsibilities at the company where we worked was to contact clients with certain legal questions, which were not directly related to what she was doing. For some reason, she wasn’t aware of that and took it as some personal threat. She thought I was undermining her and trying to steal her position. Instead of talking to me, she complained to her boss and portrayed me as an evil person. She was hoping to get me fired. The boss asked me if the task I was accused of “stealing” was my responsibility. I said “Yes, it’s written in my contract that I’m supposed to do this.” He stood in my defense, but this woman kept micromanaging and manipulating everyone. She was gossiping, spreading false information about me. She was a nervous wreck and eventually almost got fired. One morning called my private phone number at six in the morning to threaten me that if I didn’t stop what I was doing, she was going to get me thrown out of the company. She crossed all the lines. I was stressed and super scared of what she could do. She seemed to be completely uncontrollable. I was distressed for a long time, but the HR department didn’t care. They said, “You’re a grownup - deal with it!”. I couldn't let anyone know what was happening as I was afraid to be seen as a weak person who cannot deal with their problems. I was completely alone and scared until the lady finally decided to leave the company."

More experiences of toxic leadership

In large (trans)national prestigious organizations

Big organizations carry a lot of prestige. Most are hierarchical, slow in adapting to change and have a reputation for tolerating a lot of abuse. The larger and more prestigious, the less accountability for the people at the top. This combination of prestige, legacy, hierarchy and no accountability is the perfect environment for toxic leaders to prevail. Whether it’s the UN, EU, or government - once you’re in and things turn toxic, anonymously shared stories suggest that in these types of work environments very little is done to support targets of psychological violence and harassment.

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Speak up - become the next target

Toxic pattern
lack of accountability
ignoring grievances
retaliation
gossip

You have been working for this company for years, and grew tired of the unhealthy culture normalizing gossip and bullying. As you witness multiple people get hurt, you decide to speak up in hope of making a difference. The only difference is how you are treated now. You become the new target. Next in line to have their reputation and future at the company destroyed.

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Just move him to another department

Toxic pattern
lack of accountability
ignoring grievances
favoritism

You and your colleagues are bullied. You follow the process of filing a complaint but no action is taken until things escalate. What action is taken? The bully gets extra time off to “decompress” and then is moved to another department.

In medium to large corporations

Medium to large corporations breed toxic leadership due to hierarchical structures fostering unchecked authority, disconnecting leaders from employees. Emphasis on profits often prioritizes results over ethics and well-being, incentivizing ruthless tactics for success. Bureaucracy and opaque management layers obscure transparency and accountability, enabling manipulation and blame-shifting.

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Squeezed to the last drop

Toxic pattern
exploitation
overworking
lack of support

A foreign worker you work for a medium sized company, which does all it can to cut costs. You give them all you have out of fear of not having a job at all. You are overworked, exhausted and completely undervalued.

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Forced to run a fake investigation

Toxic pattern
gossip
supporting bullying
dishonesty

You are a respected professional with over 20 years experience. You’ve been a loyal and recognized employee for a decade. New leadership comes on board and suddenly the bullies run loose. You are sucked into an investigation designed to devalue, discard and humiliate you. All shortly before you can legally retire.

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