John Knotts | President and Owner of Crosscutter Enterprises — Your Success Incubator.
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“The fish rots from the head.” This idiom originates from ancient China and implies the importance of virtuous leadership. Many people look at the consistent string of failures in corporate America today and wonder what has gone wrong.
The concept of toxic leadership has been brought up many times over the past several years. The pandemic of 2020 gave birth to so many poor leadership behaviors and, as companies still struggle, it only gets worse.
What is really happening? Where does this toxic leadership come from? Why does no one do something about it?
These are all great questions, with a simple yet complex answer.
The simple answer is that the fish rots from the head, as the ancient Chinese saying goes. But it really is not that simple, or we would solve it quickly.
Show me a struggling company, and I will show you a senior leader who lacks accountability. The lack of accountability is at the forefront of the problem in America today.
If you are a leader and you are wondering how you fix this, that is the first step. You realize that it starts with you. If you do not fix the problem, it will never go away.
Setting Expectations
If you decide you want to repair a company facing toxicity, then you must learn to set clear expectations that everyone understands and is capable of meeting.
Too often, your people are trying to pass a test they are not allowed to study for. They are working toward your expectations but have no clue what they are. Thus, they make up their own expectations and work toward those. And the leader wonders why people under them just do not “get it.”
If you do not set expectations, then no one will have expectations of you as the leader. This way, those under you will not hold you accountable either. Bad leaders hire people worse than them because they do not want to be held accountable.
When bad leaders hire bad people and there is a lack of accountability, that is when toxicity begins to spread—and this is what makes it toxic. Achievers thrive in an accountable organization. They know what the expectation is and work to achieve it. When there is no accountability, the achievers eventually tire of the environment and leave. Eventually, all that is left is the toxicity.
Detection Systems
If you decide to change your company's toxic direction and have set clear and achievable expectations, you now need a way for everyone to measure and monitor progress. This requires very visible detection systems.
One of the 12 statements in the Gallup Employee Engagement Survey states, “My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.” How do they measure this statement? What do they use as a judge?
When no expectations exist or progress toward expectations is not visible, then everyone will believe that those around them are not operating as well as themselves. Without clear and visible measurement systems, employees create their own—the same as creating their own expectations.
If you set expectations, then you need to establish detection systems that everyone has access to.
Holding People Accountable
You might be saying to yourself, “I hold people accountable.” However, if you have not established the expectations and a detection system for all to see, then you are administering that hidden test all over again.
When the expectations are clear, understood and measurable and everyone can see how they and everyone else is doing, it forces leaders to act accordingly. If you are a leader who does not want to be held accountable, then you will not build the previous two items.
If you have built them, then you must act!
Holding people accountable can be both negative and positive, as in the Transactional Leadership Theory. This carrot-and-stick approach is key to accountability.
When expectations are not being met, it is clear to everyone that action must be taken. If no action is taken to rectify the situation, everyone recognizes that accountability does not exist. So leaders must act accordingly.
If expectations are not met, leaders must employ the proper disciplinary actions to change the negative behavior quickly. If the behaviors do not change, the individuals must be removed. If expectations are exceeded, then leaders must recognize those who stand out. This recognition should be just as quick and responsive as discipline.
When employees have clear expectations and see everyone’s progress against these expectations, and leadership takes data-driven actions in line with expectations, toxic leadership will dissolve.
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