What is being done about toxic leadership?

2014-11-26T19:39:55-05:00

I have seen leaders come and go. I have seen poor leadership. But when will they actually do something about the toxic leaders? I am not talking about people we don't care for or don't like how they do things. I am talking about commanders who stand in front of their company and tell them they aren't there for them, they are only there for themselves. The ones that ignore soldiers profiles and tell them they have to break the profile because they told them to do it. I have seen a lot of talk but in 11 years haven't seen anyone removed, at any rank, due to this issue. I do however see a lot of covering up and excuses from all the way up to post CSM. How is this being dealt with?

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2014 7:45 PM

2014-11-26T19:45:24-05:00

SGT Philip Popa, I have not seen what you describe. If I did, and if there was nothing done about it, I guess two viable options would be the chain of command (above the toxic commander) and the IG. There may be other ways to address the situation as well.

Response by SPC Angel Guma made Dec 21 at 2014 9:44 PM

2014-12-21T21:44:48-05:00

Its not being dealt with.

Response by LTC Martin Metz made Dec 22 at 2014 1:16 PM

2014-12-22T13:16:39-05:00

We all run into toxic leadership at some point in our careers. This kind of leadership creates a self-perpetuating cycle that has harmful and long-lasting effects on morale, productivity, and retention of quality personnel. It can also affect readiness if a unit comes apart at the seams which affects careers. I have seen battalions that took two command tenures to fix the harm. How you approach this depends on the level of unit you're at (platoon, company, battalion, etc.). This eventually can't help but be detected by the next higher levels of command. Sometimes that is enough. Bringing this up with a neutral agent such as the Chaplain might help start turning things around. Sometimes discreet use of the chain of command is needed. You have to avoid as much harm as possible to yourself and your soldiers. Unfortunately, it sometimes means waiting out the bad apple until he / she is replaced. I had a Battalion Commander who was an alcoholic and expected his officers to drink heavily with him. Those of us who didn't had to deal with his ire. His dad had been a 4-star general and he was a decorated Viet Nam veteran. There was nothing else to do, but stay out of his sights and remember the leadership style as something NEVER to emulate.

Response by SGT Kevin Smith made Dec 25 at 2014 9:40 PM

2014-12-25T21:40:20-05:00

Unfortunately I think all the Army has nowadays is toxic Leadership. My last few months in I experienced a lot of it. An E-7 was bullying on of my Soldiers and because the First Sergeant and all of the Platoon Sergeant are all friends they were able to get away with it.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 7:07 PM

2015-05-15T19:07:28-04:00

Well, back in the 2009-2010 timeframe, toxic leadership was promoted to COL, put in command of the 398th Financial Management Support Center, and mobilized to deploy to Afghanistan. It pretty much ruined the unit for years.

Response by SGT David T. made May 15 at 2015 7:16 PM

2015-05-15T19:16:11-04:00

There will always be bad people in leadership positions. I think part of this is caused by the rapid pace that many leaders have been promoted at. Operational necessity will drive the push to fill vacancies, but when the standards are reduced you get a lower quality leader as a result unless you somehow get lucky and find one that is good naturally. I think the other part of it is the professional development of leaders. Much of this is driven on the army publication (I can't remember the number) and from what I remember of it is quite limited in its approach. There are literally volumes of great work in management theory available but I doubt much of this will be looked at due to the length of the leadership courses. Someone can get a PhD in Management and still not even scratch the surface on what is out there.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 16 at 2015 7:13 AM

2015-05-16T07:13:36-04:00

Toxic leaders breed toxic leaders.

Response by SSG Greg Miech made Feb 9 at 2021 10:25 PM

2021-02-09T22:25:58-05:00

What about the Toxic Solders? The ones that push the buttons of leaders, get away with things, abuse the system with BS profiles that stop on Friday/s? Other soldiers allowing this to occur and does not help. Leader helps and gets stabbed in the back and spends 90% of the time on the bad soldiers verses helping the others. An NCO at times uses the same techniques that he experienced as well. And no most senior NCOs do not teach, develop leaders other than to say read the Leadership FM. Honestly the best leadership I learned was from Extreme Leadership. The idea of blaming the leader only goes so far as long as the soldier can be trained/counseled can be replaced immediately. However the NCO has to have his ducks in a row as well.