Is there a cure for toxic leadership?

There are a couple of threads on this already, but for the sake of it...first is true identification of what "toxic leadership" is. It's received a lot of attention and a lot of definitions. Toxic is a pretty strong term. Toxicity roughly translates to poisonous. It has to be so bad that it is tearing a unit or people apart and creating a horrible command climate. There are a lot of tough leaders that are being tough for the right reasons that are labeled as toxic by the people they challenge every day. We need to make sure we are labeling it properly. As far as what to do about it, it's really in the hands of the leadership of those people. Often it is hard to see from above, which makes sensing sessions and command climate sruveys important for a senior commander to determine what is going on. NCO's need to step up and let their commanders know when something is wrong as well. Once a toxic leader is truly identified, then it's about counseling and telling someone that they are...toxic. I had the opportunity to change one of these types of people recently. I told him that he was one of the top performers, but he was an a$$hat, and that he wouldn't be getting a top-block rating because of it. It's about leaders taking responsibility for the actions of their people and not letting them off the hook just because they can perform.

These seems to be some nomenclature confusion when it comes to "Toxic" leadership. A poor leader is a poor leader, I don't think that definition needs clarifying. Now a "toxic" leader is a poor leader whose actions or inactions cause residual effects throughout the unit. The poor leader to whom you can trace a lot of your woes. That's where the term "toxic leader" came from, it replies to the spreading effect, ie toxic. It's not a blanket term for any bad leader. It's for the poor leader whose dirtbaggery is spreading, causing residual effects throughout the unit.

Can you provide examples of your idea of "toxic leadership"?