Why “That’s Just How They Are” Is Dangerous Leadership Advice
I’m sure you’ve heard this before:
‘Just don’t worry about Tim. Tim is just… being Tim.’
That could sometimes be the right advice. But more often than not… it isn’t.
The Toxic Tims you and I have come across… need to be worried about because their toxicity is contagious. It spreads well beyond their cubicle or the weekly team meeting.
That’s one of the reasons I talk so much about nipping toxic behaviour in the bud.
And recently, I was reminded just how much they can hurt a team, no matter what level they work at.
I was working with a team, and one person kept coming up as the source of a lot of problems, a clear obstacle to open communication.
(You guessed it, it was Tim – a knot in the fabric of the team).
Something fascinating happened during our workshops though.
I was working with senior leaders in the background and started talking with the team about “what ifs”. Tim was away for a few weeks, so…
What Happens When Teams Feel Safe and Supported
what if Tim wasn’t part of the team…
what if they felt safe to talk about things, be themselves…
what if they tried to stretch a little…
Watching everyone’s reactions over a few days, the senior leaders realised what they needed to do…
Tim shouldn’t be coming back – he was not, in fact, as irreplaceable as everyone had believed.
How Addressing Toxic Employees Transforms Team Culture
Just that one tiny change…transformed this team in front of my eyes. It was quite a sight, what happens when you take out the toxic person out of a team:
- The team talked about breathing deeper
- About feeling safer
- About feeling excited about learning and growing.
Can you imagine? Just thinking about this person not coming back gave everyone space to breathe, to free a different side of their work-self, to access hope and solutions. And a little further down the track the team is transformed.
I would like to say that this was all to do with my incredible workshop facilitating skills. But I’ve seen enough to know that this decision also made a huge difference. The leaders opened this window of opportunity for the team.
For your moment of reckoning: is there a toxic person in your team or workplace? And… what are you going to do about it?
Juliet Robinson
Leadership and Change Specialist
