Workplace culture is a summation of its employees, industry, values, mission, and so many other factors. And when that culture is toxic, it can feel like a shadow that hangs over everyone in the organization, constantly stealing oxygen from everything until it suffocates the business. This can seem like an impossible problem to overcome, but at Echelon Front, we know that every problem is a leadership problem and that every person in an organization is a leader. With this in mind, anyone in the organization can apply the solution of leadership to solve any problem they are faced with, including a toxic culture. In this article, I share how to address toxic workplace culture using the Extreme Ownership leadership principles.
Take Ownership of the Culture Around You
When an organization’s culture is toxic, it can become very easy for every person in that organization to start casting blame on the ever-infamous “them” as a way to rationalize why the culture is poor.
“They won’t listen to anyone”
“They don’t keep us informed”
“They don’t understand what it’s like for us”
“They don’t care about us”
“They want us to fail”
“They didn’t deliver”
“They stole our employee”
The “They,” in this case, could be anyone who isn’t you, but ultimately, you are responsible for the culture around you. That’s one of the best parts of Extreme Ownership. It’s all on you, which means you have control. When you blame others, you give up control. And when I found myself in a toxic workplace culture, it was easy to blame everyone else. But when I did that, I felt completely powerless, and that was even more distressing than the environment itself. It creates this vicious cycle where everyone feels powerless and blames everyone else for making them feel that way. However, if you can break that cycle by choosing to put your ego aside and take ownership of what you can control, you’ll start to see incremental change over time. So, taking ownership of the culture around you is one way to address toxic workplace culture.
Breakdown Silos
Another main contributor to toxic workplace culture is silos. Silos represent divisions or sections of an organization. These might form naturally due to the organizational chart or specific projects you work on, but they don’t have to. Having a separation of roles and responsibilities through departments or expertise or levels of leadership is a helpful way to organize a business, but the issue occurs when we allow that arrangement to divide our loyalties. When employees become more concerned about their project team or department winning than the entire organization succeeding, that will lend itself to a toxic culture. People will start to view each other as enemies instead of remembering that the enemy is your competition. When this happens, these different groups within an organization will start competing with each other for time, money, and resources instead of supporting each other to accomplish the company’s mission.
So, how can you address this type of toxic workplace culture? Break down the silos. Build relationships. If you can build relationships with the people in your organization, both on your direct team and in other departments, you will start to create more perspective for yourself because you will better understand their perspective. When you understand other people’s perspectives, you are more likely to trust them. When you have mutual trust, you can quel any possible misunderstandings that may lead to unhealthy internal conflict, which is a huge component of any toxic culture. When you have good relationships, you will create a team that empathizes with and supports each other rather than one that blames each other.
Give People Control Over their Own Destiny
What most people want more than anything is control over their own destiny. At Echelon Front, we call that Decentralized Command. This can be a powerful way to address toxic workplace culture. When people feel empowered to make decisions, it gives them a certain amount of control they may not have had before. In toxic workplace cultures this may seem impossible to do, but there are always small, creative ways in which you can create opportunities for them to have some autonomy. Here are some examples of how to address toxic workplace culture through Decentralized Command.
- If you feel like you aren’t getting clear guidance from leadership, ask more questions. Get the why from them so that you and the team will have what you need to execute and solve problems on your own.
- If corporate is mandating that employees be in the office a certain number of days per week, give your team as much flexibility within that mandate as possible – let them choose which days they come in.
- If the team is overworked because you don’t have enough people to complete all the projects, make it fun. Create little competitions amongst the team that help them feel creative ownership over the tasks they have to do.
Propagate Positive Stories
One thing that is perpetually taking place in a toxic workplace culture is the propagation of negative narratives. The constant gossip and rehashing of the negative things that are occurring can make everyone feel like there is nothing redeemable about the organization. This can very quickly lead to people looking for new jobs so they can exit the situation as quickly as possible. To address toxic workplace culture like this, you must choose to propagate the positive stories. Share the good things you see happening as often as you can. Even if it feels like there are only a few small wins, making those known to everyone can have a huge impact on morale and interrupt the constant flow of negative information.
Addressing a Toxic Culture Takes Time
Ultimately, all of this takes time. A toxic workplace culture is not created overnight and, therefore, cannot be corrected quickly either. You have to be consistent. You have to be intentional. You have to own the culture around you. If you will put in the time and effort required to build relationships, empower others, stay positive, and not blame others, you can start to iteratively change that culture each day. That is how to address toxic workplace culture – one day, one relationship, one situation at a time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, how to address a toxic workplace culture is multi-faceted. It requires checking your ego and taking ownership of the culture around you, building relationships to break down silos, creating as much autonomy as possible, propagating positive stories, and ultimately, time. These are just a few ways you can combat a toxic culture and create an Extreme Ownership culture in its place.
