4 The Four Stages of a Toxic Culture
4.1 Introduction
Pressure for increased performance, overly ambitious goals, and ‘toxic’ leadership can provoke a toxic culture. The actions of the leader, such as berating and mocking individuals in front of their peers (VW, RBS), holding almost omnipotent power vested by the Board and other external stakeholders (BP), and driving internal resources or directing orders through phrases such as “the (CEO) wants this to happen”, are key to the journey of organizations becoming toxic.
This chapter sets out to explore the four stages of the journey to becoming a toxic organization. Some organizations may not reach all four stages, but each stage should enable diagnosis.
4.2 Performance ...
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