The Burden of Abuse: “Toxic” Leadership Is Experiencing a New Flowering in Russia
Until recently fashionable democratic management is losing its relevance in Russia — when you need to put out a fire, the team is required not to be creative, but to perform tasks accurately and quickly. But not all managers are able to manage tough, but respectfully.
Due to the crisis, many Russian companies found themselves on the brink of survival. On the one hand, circumstances require a firm hand, on the other hand, many managers even in calm times could not boast of managerial competencies, and tough management is completely confused with rudeness. “Team leaders faced a difficult task: to maintain efficiency and effectiveness in order to create results, despite external turbulence. This is not easy for everyone,” admits Daria Korobkova, team coach, business mentor, managing partner of the TeamSonance consulting company.
Aggressive leaders are an old problem that has taken on a new dimension due to the return of tough management to Russian companies, HR experts say. According to hh.ru, 66% of Russian enterprises experienced conflicts between managers and subordinates related to emotional abuse. 68% of employees have experienced tough treatment from superiors or colleagues, and 57% - only from superiors, Ksenia Stepanova, head of internal communications at hh.ru, cites figures. How to draw a line between a demanding but constructive management style and the rudeness of a leader that does not help achieve results?
Petty tyrant reluctantly
The style of managing employees, as well as basic emotions, is determined by the characteristics of the nervous system, says Anna Bursanovskaya, a crisis psychologist and profiler: “The character of tyrant bosses is dominated by features of the epileptoid psychotype according to the classification of the German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard. To avoid association with mentally ill people, let’s call this type “Generals”. The nervous system of the Generals is in constant tension, which finds a way out in unmotivated outbursts of aggression. For them, the world is unfriendly, resources are limited, and it is necessary to fight for a place under the sun. Irritation, anger, resentment are their frequent companions. And ridicule, nit-picking, total control are the usual means of communication that allow the General to be in a “position from above”, and therefore safe.”
But the causes of “toxic” behavior are not always associated with the personal characteristics of the manager. “Often, due to this format of management, managers compensate for their own incompetence in matters of working with personnel,” Oksana Smuschenko, co-owner of the Gelster trade and construction company, is ruthless. “They don’t know other tools to work with the team.” When asked why it’s so tough, one often hears a confession of one’s own impotence: “they don’t understand differently”, “if I start coddling with them, everything will fall apart”, “I just demand a result”. Such leaders, as a rule, proceed from the “X” theory of human behavior (the theory of the American social psychologist Douglas McGregor on people’s motivation and behavior in management), explains Evgeny Valishin, associate professor at the Financial University under the government: “According to this theory, the average person has an inherent dislike for work and will try to avoid it as much as possible; most people need to be coerced, tested, directed, or even threatened with punishment in order to get them to make sufficient efforts to achieve the goals of the organization.
Toxic managers believe that raising their voice, harsh treatment, profanity, and the like increase the speed of reaction and productivity of employees. “They do increase, but not for long. And the consequences of such a short-term action are likely to have a very negative impact on the company in the future,” warns Svetlana Sharkel, business and executive coach, partner at the Center for Strategic Leadership. - Researchers from Harvard University Robert Yerkes and John Dodson established the relationship between stress and productivity back in 1908, later this model was called the Yerkes-Dodson law. Scientists have found that stress is an important reaction to what is happening, which includes greater concentration, attentiveness, efficiency. This helps to achieve high results in complex negotiations, in sports competitions, in situations requiring a quick reaction. But if the stress gets too high or lasts too long, the process is reversed—productivity drops drastically.” In addition, the setting of tasks suffers - if the manager gives tasks in a raised tone, the employee will be afraid to clarify something or take the initiative if the introductory changes have changed. And it may turn out that he formally completed the task, but in fact not, because the situation has changed, but he did not ask again, warns Korobkova.
It happens that the root cause of the leader’s tyranny is in immature employees, admits business psychologist Ekaterina Fedorova, a member of the Professional Psychotherapeutic League, an expert on working with conflicts and manipulations in business: “The management style is often called tough, to which the word “adult” is more applicable. Such a leader, without any preludes, asks his subordinate: what is made of what we agreed on earlier? And an immature subordinate perceives this as pressure. In fact, it may be a request to take responsibility for the result. And the employees are the “nursery group”, they do not want difficulties. However, the responsibility still remains with the leader: the subordinate did as they said, what is the demand from him? Subordinates, accordingly, remain “small”. Desperate to negotiate from the position of an adult, at some point, the manager begins to think that there are no normal employees at all. He is drowning in operational management. He starts to press, scream, intimidate, but there is still no effect.” However, here, too, one of the main reasons is managerial incompetence: many managers simply do not know how to raise their subordinates.
Atmospheric pressure
The saddest thing is that people adapt to such a situation. “They treat the boss condescendingly, justify his boorish behavior by saying that “he is just such a person,” and are silent about the problem for years, the higher manager does not even know about what is happening. When some allow themselves to be treated rudely, while others feel permissive, the tough management style is confused with outright rudeness” Anastasia Ogor, director of personnel and organizational development of the Profit financial and industrial group, analyzes. But if others do not support the aggressor, he may well “re-educate.”
“Toxic” management, among other things, is also dangerous because it creates a general atmosphere of aggression and mistrust in the company. Scientists from Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge), interviewing 323 employees of different companies, found that “toxic” bosses saturate everything around with poison. 68% of those who faced hostile behavior from the leader also observed aggression from colleagues. 52% of the victims of abuse suffered from emotional exhaustion, 77% were not confident in their own worth and were afraid of losing their jobs.
The distrust that has settled in the team does not disappear even with the departure of the “toxic” boss, Daria Korobkova warns: “A recent example: we are working with the regional sales team of a large network company, experienced professionals. Five years ago they had a critical leader and strong internal competition. And despite the fact that since then both the boss and half of the employees have changed, the atmosphere of increased criticality and distrust within the team persisted. The old people did not share life hacks, the newcomers were afraid of condemnation and criticism and did not express ideas and suggestions, did not ask for support and advice. Because of this, the overall result and overall events suffered.” After working with a coach, team results increased by 40% in six months.
How to understand if you have a strict leader or a tyrant-abuser? If from time to time the question gnaws at you whether you are a worthless employee, it is likely that these are the consequences of the managerial incompetence of your manager, explains Maria Danina, founder of the online school of psychological professions “Psychodemia”, a visiting lecturer in the psychology departments of Moscow State University and the Higher School of Economics" You are criticized in such a way that, as a result, you do not know how to correct the situation, and do not understand the essence of the claims. The only positive effect of such criticism is that your boss becomes more calm after it. Threats of dismissal without dismissal: You may even be promoted, but you constantly receive such threats from your boss. This is a sure sign of abuse."
The key difference between tough management and rudeness is the transition to personalities and the disappearance of a constructive line in a conversation, clarifies Alexander Svidovsky, CEO of the Vtor-Plast processing company: minimum considering the reaction of the employee. When deadlines are burning in the company, the boss does not have time to come in from afar, explain in detail the specifics of the task or praise. With such management, communication is rather dry, but at the same time, which is very important, personal insults and evaluative statements are excluded, Svidovsky explains. Finally, a tough leadership style, in contrast to tyranny, is clear agreements with employees and consequences (financial, career) in case of failure to fulfill duties.
Don’t argue with the General
More than half of the employees surveyed by hh.ru (57%) tried to independently resolve the conflict through negotiations. Many (43% of those who decided to talk to the manager) left, and one in four left everything as it is. If the situation escalates, you can take a time-out - take a sick leave or take a vacation at your own expense, recommends Kristina Raskopatina, head of the out staffing company “Your personnel adviser”. This will allow you to physically distance yourself from the situation and make a decision with a cool head. “I don’t recommend arguing with the General, proving your case or calling for the established order of labor relations - it’s easier to quit right away,” warns Anna Bursanovskaya. - Here, the depreciation method has proven itself perfectly, when you immediately agree with the boss.
The easiest and surest way to fight a tyrant is to leave, Raskopatina believes: “To value yourself, your emotional state and self-esteem is a very useful skill in life.” If leaving is not an option, you should document all tasks as much as possible, ask again if you understood correctly, and record everything in a notebook, with deadlines and intermediate control points, she advises: “Keep written records of the work done during the day - in case of a complaint, you always you will be able to show what exactly you did during the specified period of time and who set you this or that task. Calmly accept everything that is said to you, in whatever form it may take. In case of insults, of course, you can calmly ask the leader not to get personal and remain within the framework of a constructive dialogue. For especially severe cases, there is Art.
In general, it is highly advisable for a victim of unethical actions to seek advice from a lawyer before doing anything, strongly recommends Oleg Matyunin, managing partner of the Matyunin and Partners law office in Moscow, chairman of the commission of the Guild of Russian Lawyers for the protection and security of business: “A lawyer will see the boundaries between the unpleasant character traits of the boss and his illegal actions, he will figure out where and at what moment the law was violated, and explain how to correctly record the aggression emanating from the boss so that the material obtained can be used in the police, the prosecutor’s office, and the court. It will also tell you what line it is dangerous to cross for the victim herself and what it can threaten.
There’s good news for unrestrained bosses, too: Research shows that being aggressive isn’t a necessary evil—through social regulation and training, aggressive behavior can be avoided, Valishin says. “The vice president of a large pharmaceutical company, faced with even a minor error in the work of an employee, for example, a typo in a document, fell into an uncontrollable rage, which was immediately reflected in the employee, although in general the result of the work could be very good. The result is a high level of turnover in the department,” says Korobkova. - In the course of coaching work, the manager realized that he reads the subordinate’s mistake as disrespect for him personally and even an attempt to set him up, which is felt as a security threat, and causes aggression.
The key to successful change is a significant goal for which a person is ready to change, says Maria Makarushkina, partner at Ecopsy consulting company. “The director of the enterprise grew up in a simple and dysfunctional family and, as they say, did not bother with the culture of communication: he was rude, sharp, he could easily shout, humiliate, people left him. But a super professional, he gives out very cool solutions, there is no way in import substitution without him. Persuasion and conversations from the management company did not help. We studied his motivational profile: he wanted to make a career and enter the country’s manufacturing business elite. The owner explained that for this he would have to change the style of communication, and then the director himself asked what needs to be done. I had to write down in detail exactly how to communicate with contractors, partners, subordinates, and the situation began to improve” she says. So if you feel that you will have to manage more and more rigidly, tighten up your managerial competencies so that instead of a confident leader you inadvertently do not become a boor. As the Marines say, “In an emergency, you don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your training.”