Toxic Workplace!: Managing Toxic Personalities and Their Systems of Power

Chapter 4. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

How Toxicity Spreads Like an Infection

It was one of those things we discovered over time. Tara [not her real name] gained a lot of power over thirty years and became fearful of losing it. She made the organization fearful of what might happen if others didn't follow what she wanted. In both subtle and not-so-subtle ways, she prevented people from expressing their opinions openly to both her boss and to people throughout the organization. Tara alone determined how the structure of her organization was going to be run, and she didn't want anyone to challenge it. She found many ways to block people and ways to prevent them from bringing issues to me because she was the CEO of the organization.

Eventually, even I saw ...