Written by As our culture in sports starts to refine itself we gradually begin to fade away from traditional standards and start introducing new and fresh ideas. When a coach comes in a new setting and isn’t willing to adapt the specific culture of the team, organization, or sport we see a downfall in the organization. What we usually see here is a toxic work environment where the players are not the key priority, and revenue drives the decisions made at the top. A toxic environment is always unhealthy, but the key distinction is the adjective used here.
What exactly makes an environment toxic, and what makes a toxic leader actually toxic? I spoke to Jeremy Piasecki, founder of Culture in Sports, who is currently writing his dissertation on toxic leaders. He says that the key difference between a toxic leader and a rude one is that the toxic leader will purposefully be mean, rude, and unwelcoming. They are aware of the fact that they act like this and they logically choose to continue their behavior. On the other hand anyone can be mean or rude, that is just human nature sometimes, and it may be emotions driving that decision. Toxic leaders are much more purposeful in their actions, meaning they know, and are aware, of what they’re doing and don’t try to change or stop their behavior, even if they see a downfall in their environment because of their actions.
So what do you do when you have a toxic leader or toxic work environment? Surprisingly, most people fall into 3 categories:
Fight
Flight
Freeze
Fight: under fight we have the people who rebel and actively oppose toxic leadership by calling them out or addressing their concerns within the organization. We’ve seen this with many sports athletes who have addressed and felt that their organization didn’t really manage or care about the individuals properly.
Flight: under flight we have people who tend to have an aversion towards toxic environments so they slowly start to fade away or be less present in their atmosphere.
Freeze: under freeze we have people who are at a stand still. They don’t really know what to do or how to act in the situation, indirectly involving themselves in the environment at hand.
Each category has its own pros and cons, and like any other thing it’s all about a happy balance you find. The main point I’m trying to get across is that every situation is different and that these aren’t “rules” or limitations on what people can do in a toxic work environment. Rather, it is simply to widen your view on what you think a toxic environment is. Most of the time it isn’t your boss just yelling at you or being outright mean. It is very deceiving at times, so make sure that when you do find yourself in a situation like this that you are responding in a manner you see fit.