Steve Leonard AKA Doctrine Man is a proud member of The Military Writers Guild, a group dedicated to supporting the study of military affairs, spreading the knowledge of the military profession, and assisting those writing in the national security space.
He is also a ClearanceJobs news contributor, and writes about career advice and other stories from his Army days that cleared workers can draw life lessons from.
For this episode of ClearedCast, we discussed the dark side of leadership: what it looks like, and how the national security workforce can deal (or not deal) with toxic leaders and co-workers.
THE EPITOME OF A TOX LEADER
“That’s one of the reasons why I write about this as much as I do,” Steve says. “We have a very stereotypical view of what a toxic leader is, and by focusing on this stereotype, we narrow our aperture so much that we neglect it’s a much wider spectrum of behaviors and actions.”
Even though Doctrine Man has yet to come up with names or personality types on this spectrum, the ‘stereotypical toxic leader’ is narcissistic, or abusive to the point of destroying the fabric of an organization. If you focus on the entire dark leadership spectrum, you’ll also consider the very well-intentioned leaders that could perhaps be indecisive, therefore derailing the organization they’re supporting. This type of toxic leader can achieve the same negative end in terms of tearing apart the fabric of an organization. Without necessarily being narcissistic or sociopathic, they’re just flat out incompetent.
FIGHT IT OR LET IT GO?
How do you deal with a toxic leader? This is a toughie for anyone in any industry. While it can hurt someone’s pride, is it better to just let the toxic situation go and move on to another career? Do you fight it out until the end, potentially wasting your precious time and energy?
“I’m talking about those days where you just say, ‘I’m not having fun anymore,’” Steve notes. “’I got to get another job and I don’t care whether I was in the military or on the civilian side.’ I’ve had those days where it’s just not worth it anymore.”
Depending on the situation, moving on may be best. It really is something to evaluate on a case by case basis. Is there a chance for upward mobility within the company? Do you have great benefits you might not get elsewhere? Do you have co-workers that outweigh this toxic leader?
The last piece is the biggest piece of advice that came out of this episode of ClearedCast. When it comes to dark leadership and how to deal, just having someone to talk to on those days is really important for morale.
NEXT UP
This episode of ClearedCast touched on some entertaining stories from Doctrine Man’s time in the US Army. Next week, be sure to tune in as the editorial team unpacks the top headlines from this week in national security news.
