Fighting Workplace Toxicity?

Every day that I open up social media, I see another article about identifying and escaping a toxic work environment. These articles usually lay responsibility on the employee to identify and escape the toxicity. But what about leaders and managers? Where is their responsibility to avoid or correct such unprofessionalism? More importantly, how do servant leaders prevent, avoid, or correct a toxic work environment?

Let's be honest. A toxic work environment doesn't just manifest out of thin air. It gets planted, takes root, and grows over time and with careful (or careless) feeding. But what is a servant leader to do? This post architects one such solution, based on Christian business principles.

Whether you run a Christ-based business or a secular business striving to improve your culture through Christian business principles, you and your business can benefit from "the Golden Rule," which I roll into one word: CARING.

C - Culture.

A - Attitude.

R - Reasonableness.

I - Integrity.

N - Noticing others.

G - Godliness.

Culture

Culture is the umbrella under which your business's work environment grows. You, as leader, set the tone and are responsible for fostering a Godly environment or a toxic one. Tolerating poor behavior, allowing bullying, empowering scapegoating, and abdicating your stewardship responsibilities create an environment where toxicity can grow.

Servant leaders at all levels of business can build or nurture a culture that fosters growth, respects employee contributions and challenges, and delivers tools and resources that stamp out toxicity. Culture is both the umbrella under which your business thrives and the foundation upon which it is built. Defending against toxicity at every turn is your solemn duty as a servant leader.

Attitude

We've all heard the popular adage that Attitude controls your Altitude. More importantly, your attitude towards your coworkers, supervisors, those in your charge, and those in your extended business network is one of the few things in business that is wholly, entirely, and completely yours to control. Where everything else in your business may require stakeholder inputs and be impacted by external environmental factors, your attitude is yours alone to control.

Servant leaders recognize that our attitude sets the stage for how others react to and interact with us. If we're sour, others are less likely to be supportive or effective. If we're pleasant, others are more likely to assist or to go the extra mile even when it carries additional stressors. Servant leaders can begin to constrict toxicity's reach by being thankful in all things and showing a Godly attitude in the face of a toxic environment. Not only is there no darkness without light, but there is no darkness in light.

(Note: Let's not confuse a positive attitude with toxic positivity - that's still toxicity.)

Reasonableness

Reasonableness is an essential skill in leadership, especially when serving others first. Reasonableness is the antonym of irrationality, unfairness, excessiveness, rigidity, and bias - all states or conditions we find in a toxic work environment. Assuming a reasonable posture can be as easy as being willing to listen to others' ideas and considering their positive impact without constraining their creativity or communication. Even the law recognizes the need for reason, as in the "Reasonable Man" theory.

Equally important is the position of reasonableness in the hierarchy of traits as they relate to Godly wisdom, which is first pure, then peaceable, then gentle, then reasonable. Reasonableness leads to mercy, good fruits (our positive outcomes), impartiality, and sincerity. Without being reasonable, it is impossible to connect Godly wisdom and peace to positive outcomes and impartiality.

Integrity

Integrity can be defined simply as being honest and having strong moral principles. Honesty and morality are cornerstones of every servant leader's approach. Without integrity, toxicity blossoms. A lack of integrity fosters deceit, cheating, and a "dog eat dog" environment. Business is all about competition - but clean competition. A culture that lacks integrity is fertilizer for fomenting toxicity.

Servant leaders aren't perfect, but we own our mistakes and our choices are designed to minimize the impact of ours and others' mistakes on our workforce, our customers, and our business. Quelling toxicity can be as simple as owning mistakes and treating others who make mistakes with dignity and respect. In the Marine Corps I learned to praise in public and correct in private, and to have the integrity to stand against anyone - senior or subordinate - who lacks integrity.

Noticing Others

Noticing others is as easy as looking outward, not inward. Good stewards notice the efforts, successes, and struggles of those around them. Toxic environments ignore efforts and successes and capitalize on struggles and failures. Whenever we encounter a toxic work environment, it is common to see leadership touting perfectionism, zero defect mentality, and unrealistic expectations. If we're being honest, these are usually the result of the leader's own shortcomings.

Servant leaders, on the other hand, strive to improve the lives of those in their circle of influence, and that requires noticing their efforts. Efforts may be imperfect, take longer than we would like, or deliver less than optimal results. Still, we recognize the attempt and the heart behind it and use the occasion as a teaching tool. Servant leaders also make every effort to recognize successes, no matter how large or complete they may be.

Most importantly, servant leaders show awareness of the professional, personal, and spiritual struggles going on around us. We commonly see posts reminding us that everyone is "going through something." As servant leaders, it is our responsibility to see it, understand whether we need to get involved or let it run its course, and be prepared to adjust (resource leveling, task sharing, etc.) if necessary.

Godliness

Godliness brings us back to where we started, Servant Leader, being in this world but not of it. Put simply, Godliness is placing others first - something anathema to this world in general and to the business world in particular. Toxicity thrives in selfishness. It appears as bullying, scapegoating, and lying to get ahead. These are all traits of placing ourselves above others. On the contrary, Godliness suffers others' unfairness and blame. How many times have we found ourselves suffering at the hands of a toxic leader who "bends the truth" to make their point?

On the other hand, Godliness confronts selfishness and encompasses each CARING step. It shines a light on the darkness of toxicity. Godliness establishes a culture of care that places others' needs above our own. It manifests in an "attitude of gratitude." It injects reason where bias and unfairness reign. Godliness demands integrity over self-promotion and calls us to notice others' successes and pain. Godliness is the epitome of servant leadership.

But why, even after all this, should any business invest in Christian business principles?

In summary, incorporating the Christian principles of CARING in business and leadership fosters effective communication, conflict resolution, trust, adaptability, positive employee morale, and long-term success, and these results lead to growth.

In our next installment, we'll discuss the metrics that prove that CARING benefits business. Until then, love thy neighbor, Servant Leader.