What Elements of Toxicity are Crumbling Down Your Leadership Image?

Your effectiveness as a leader is tied to your image.

Leaders have a task. It is to carry down the responsibility of managing a large group of people and do it while maintaining a powerful leadership image. And when I say people, I mean all kinds of people. Some of them are cheerful and joyous, some of them are active players, some of them are too serious, and some just too sad, narcissistic, or maybe too depressed. 

When you are surrounded by people, you will have just about every flavored person in your bean box. Oh, by the way, the bean box analogy is something I took from Bertie Bott’s every flavored bean, haha. 

As a leader, you have to learn how to deal with each one of them. However, in the wake of appropriate management, many leaders do get carried away, and in their frustration, they often become toxic. And the worst part about toxicity is that you won’t even realize that you’ve become one. 

Are you a leader afraid of becoming toxic to your subordinates? Here are some activities to avoid. 

Are You the One Complaining? 

Even though things aren’t going your way and your sub-ordinates are always committing silly errors, you want to vent out. At times as such, you must maintain your composure. 

Are you the one complaining? That’s a weak sign of strong leadership. 

You need to give up on your habit of complaining. People look up to you, and it is more likely that they would want to adopt your tone to become future leaders. If your tone is overwhelmingly negative, imagine what you’re teaching others? A negative attitude will not only damage their professional life but to some extent, their personal one too. It shapes their persona into someone they aren’t. 

No matter what the situation is at your end, it is your duty to ensure you’re not the one complaining. 

Do You Carry Insecurities Up Your Sleeves?

A leader should be an emblem of inspiration. If you don’t have that spark in you, how do you expect your employees to radiate the same? Even if you’re the most successful leader, there will always be some insecurity that will annoy you and become a hurdle for you. 

But, alas a leader should never complain.

He’s the person to whom his sub-ordinates are always looking up to. It will have a very negative impact on the people who surround him. Instead, a leader should work together with his subordinates by putting aside his insecurities and at the same time, preaching the same to them. 

It will help you resolve your self-esteem issues as well as theirs at the same time. And before you know it, you all are on your way to achieving great success in life. 

Do You Have Personal Favorites? 

One of the important traits of a strong leader is that they are capable of bringing together difficult people who are highly talented. It is their duty to hold them together and motivate them to collaborate. 

At times, certain individuals are more talented than others and without even knowing, they become your personal favorites. If you are keeping personal favorites, you are creating an unhealthy culture. 

When you favor a particular individual among a group of them, the remaining few who are neglected will stop performing well at their tasks. As a result, your team will lose its spark and result in failure. 

It is important that you treat everyone fairly. It will help them stay on the right path & motivated.

Do you Poke Your Nose Where It’s Not Needed? 

If you’re the kind of leader who is always breathing down the necks of his/her subordinates, you’re the kind of leader who is quirky. And trust me, nobody likes a person who is always nosing around you. 

Some leaders are obsessive. They want to concern themselves with every detail of everyone’s work. While doing so, what they fail to understand is that they are undermining their talent and abilities. 

It eventually thins the chances of growth and success for them and eventually for the leader as well. Modern-day employees want modern-day environments and they are more attuned to privacy then they are to micro-management. If they can’t find enough space to spread their wings, they will eventually hold back and never unleash their utmost potential. As a result, the organization suffers. 

It is important that you hand out responsibilities, but don’t micromanage. Discuss the results. Because, when you micromanage, in a way you’re telling them that you do not respect their work. 

Do You Not Enjoy Feedbacks? 

So if Josh comes up to you someday and tells you that your methods aren’t working quite the way he expected them to and he has a better solution, would you chuck him out of the room and issue a warning letter? Well, if you can’t enjoy feedbacks, you can’t be an active part of the leadership circle. 

A big responsibility of a leader is to understand how his/her subordinates feel working under you. You want to emphasize the ideas you have at your end, but what if there is something better on the table? 

To get there, you need to have enough patience to listen to your employees. Gather their feedback and understand their ideas, your agenda should be to concern yourself with those whom you wish to lead. 

If you don’t show them consideration, things can bubble down to conflicts, problems, and then failure. 

You Don’t Want to Lose Your Leadership Image Now, Do You? 

Toxicity can find room anywhere.

May it be your personal/professional relationship, it can eat you up on the inside just like mites eating a piece of wood. It is best that you steer your way clear from elements that can tarnish your leadership image and damage your persona greatly. After all, you want to be a trusted leader.

Is there something we missed? How about you let us know in the comments so we can add that bit to our article and make it more interesting for you. Until next time, cheers 🙂