COACHING THE TOXIC LEADER

COACHING THE TOXIC LEADER

The text talk about the executives where this people have the power to create an environment that allows people to grow and give their best or a toxic workplace where everyone is unhappy. But if the boss’s psychological makeup is warped, business plans, ideas, interactions, and even the systems and structure of the organization itself will reflect his or her pathologies. As an executive coach, I’ve sometimes come across leaders with mental demons.

Even with executives who are relatively healthy emotionally, you nearly always run across some of the characteristics described here, which need to be addressed in similar fashion (though not necessarily accompanied by medication and formal therapy).

Other subtopic is THE NARCISSIST, The dysfunction most frequently found at senior levels is pathological narcissism. Narcissism is not something a person either has or hasn’t. We all possess narcissistic characteristics to a degree. In fact, we need a modicum of narcissism to function properly, it’s part of the immune system, if you will, defending us against the vicissitudes of life.

the first rule when dealing with narcissists is to avoid anything that might upset their delicate sense of self. Typically, their grandiosity is a childhood coping mechanism compensating for a sense of inadequacy of never being able to please a parent (although parental “overstimulation” without a realistic foundation can have a similar effect). Narcissists may seem very confident, but that confidence conceals a deep vulnerability.

The coach’s first goal, then, must be to place the narcissist’s self-esteem on firm foundations, not destroy it.  Show empathy initially to gain trust, so you can begin to try minor confrontations of individual dysfunctional behaviors.