Toxic teams don’t appear overnight. They’re often the result of good people operating in bad systems — environments where the rules are unclear, the boundaries are blurred, and expectations are inconsistent.
And here’s the hard truth: it’s not the team that’s broken—it’s the leadership framework around them.
According to a 2024 MIT Sloan study, toxic culture is the single strongest predictor of employee attrition — ten times more powerful than compensation.
What drives that toxicity?
Ambiguity, double standards, and the absence of clear behavioural expectations.
When leaders fail to define the rules of engagement, people make up their own. That’s when dysfunction festers: blame games, power plays, disengagement, and silent resentment all take root.
So how do you fix it?
1. Set Boundaries That Protect, Not Punish
Healthy teams aren’t afraid of boundaries—they crave them.
Boundaries create safety by signalling what’s acceptable, what’s not, and what’s expected when things go wrong. Without them, high performers burn out and low performers drift.
Start by clarifying the non-negotiables. What behaviours will not be tolerated? What attitudes lift the team, and which ones drag it down?
Be specific. Vague values like “integrity” mean nothing unless they’re backed by observable standards.
2. Make the Rules Visible, Consistent, and Enforced
It’s not enough to have expectations — they must be visible, repeated, and modelled by leadership.
When one person gets away with poor behaviour, others follow.
Consistency builds credibility.
Use team charters, behavioural standards, and regular check-ins to reinforce the rules. Hold everyone accountable—regardless of seniority.
The moment you excuse a top performer’s bad behaviour, you’ve just rewritten the rules for everyone.
3. Align Expectations with Outcomes
A toxic team often isn’t lazy—it’s confused.
According to Gallup, only 41% of employees strongly agree they know what’s expected of them at work.
That’s a leadership failure, not a performance issue.
Fix it by sitting down with your team and revisiting roles, responsibilities, and decision rights.
Who owns what? Where are the overlaps? What does success look like—for the team, the individual, and the business?
When people know the rules, feel supported by boundaries, and have clarity around expectations, something powerful happens: toxicity is replaced with trust.
If you want a high-performing team, don’t start with motivation—start with structure.
Fix the rules. Set the tone. And lead like it matters. Because it does.
