Toxic versus Incompetent Leadership
We overuse the word toxic when we talk about "bad" leadership. Most ineffective leaders are incompetent, not toxic.
𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩
Last year I did something for the first time. Together with Filip De Fruyt, I had the chance to publish an article with the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) on the distinction between toxic, incompetent and effective leadership.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?
➡️ Because we reach for the word "toxic" far too quickly, and we confuse demanding with toxic. That confusion makes the whole conversation deeply muddled. Leaders are allowed to be demanding, but they also have to support people. It isn't either/or, it's both/and.
➡️ Because most managers are incompetent and are still figuring out how to lead. Every leader learns by failing and getting back up. We need to support them in that. Every leader fumbles it now and then.
➡️ Because effective leadership is always an attempt to strike a balance between supporting and directing, taking into account the situation, the person, the need. It's a search for how to handle dilemmas and tackle the challenges that chafe.
➡️ Because perfect leaders don't exist. But try working for someone who can't do it, who doesn't want to do it, who doesn't dare, who isn't allowed to, or who can't be trusted. Those situations have to go.
➡️ Because in order to know what effective leadership is, we also need to understand what toxic leadership is, how it arises, and how we can deal with it. We need to detect the signals of toxicity.
So don't get me wrong: they exist, those toxic leaders. But they're a small share of the leaders who aren't effective.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?
I focus on leadership and leadership development because "bad" leadership is at the root of many problems in organisations and in the world. And the solution is "good", or at least "better", leadership — and that's not a moral statement. It's a statement about the intention and the competence to make sure that people, teams and organisations move forward in a sustainable (= future-oriented and balanced) way, combined with the intention to get better, grounded in a modest self-awareness.
➡️ Leadership is too important to leave to people who don't mean well or who have no potential to lead.
➡️ Leadership is too important to leave to chance. It demands systematic and unrelenting attention.
