The first trait observed in toxic leaders is that they are patronizing or autocratic. In other words, once they say something they are not questioned. Their words are final and they do not allow other people to voice their contribution.
The second trait characteristic of these leaders is arrogance. They perceive themselves as superior to all other people; hence they never identify their weaknesses.
Their third trait is that they are insensitive. This implies that they are not concerned about the welfare of others and only think of themselves while their fourth trait is that they are narcist in that they do not value the organization, its mission and the employees .
The overall effect of toxic leadership on the organization and the team is low productivity and demoralized employees. The productivity goes down because the organization is not the greatest concern of toxic leaders since they are concerned with their own issues.
Due to their insensitive nature, they fail to address the concerns of the team hence employees end up in disappointments and a feeling of demoralization. This amounts to a decline in productivity and positive spirit among the employees.
Toxic leadership is still prevalent today. In some organizations, there are still leaders who are so rigid such that they do not accept the ideas of other employees. They only think that what they say or do is the right thing and anybody else should follow them.
Such leaders are also insensitive and arrogant since they never show interest in the issues that affect other employees. Most of them think that they lead in the right way but these are characters typical of toxic leaders.
The first cause of toxic leadership is the desire by leaders to earn personal gains or benefits at the expense of others. Toxic leaders only strive to benefit themselves.
The second root cause of toxic leadership is lack of leadership skills since some of the toxic leaders never realize that they do not have leadership skills while the third cause is that there are some leaders who naturally take pride in the suffering of other people.
The leader plays an important role in creating the vision and strategic direction for an organization. Firstly, he/she ensures that the people he/she leads fully understand where an organization should be after a certain period of time.
He/she also supervises the rest of the employees to ensure that everything is on course. In addition, a leader meets the employees regularly to evaluate and assess the progress.
There is a close link between vision and change in organizations. Vision is where an organization wants to be after a certain period of time. In order for it to be achieved, an organization must carry out changes that steer it towards its achievement.
For example, if there are policies that deter employees from executing duties that are crucial towards attainment of the vision, it is important to initiate changes.
Leaders are the key people who determine whether the vision is to be achieved or not (How to Deal with a Toxic Leader, n.d). Communicating the vision to other employees enables them to gain enough knowledge of what the organization seeks to achieve.
For the employees to embrace it fully, leaders must own it and make it part of their lives. They should be passionate about it and make reference to it every time. This inspires the rest of the employees to work towards its achievement.
In my organization, vision is created by analyzing the core values of the organization and its mission. What the organization does is what sets its vision and strategic direction.
The vision is linked to strategic direction in that every move the organization makes is informed by the vision. The link is made effective through the efforts of all employees who strive to ensure that the vision is realized. They are also fully supported by the management.
References
How to Deal with a Toxic Leader. (n.d). Web.
Ortiz, C. (2004). Ten Signs of an Incompetent Leader. Web.