L6: Conflicts and Team Struggles under Specific Leaders

Situation

A single leader consistently creates friction across multiple teams and contexts, yet the pattern often goes unaddressed because they deliver results or possess critical expertise. Teams under their leadership experience ongoing stress, while HR receives a steady stream of complaints and concerns.

Symptoms

Toxic Leadership Indicators:

• Revolving door syndrome: Above-average turnover rates specifically in their teams
• Informal complaint networks: Employees sharing concerns through back-channels and informal conversations
• Performance paradox: Strong business results masking significant people management failures
• Selective toxicity: Treating different team members with varying levels of respect and support
• Reputation inconsistency: Glowing reviews from superiors while subordinates express frustration

Team and Organizational Damage:

• Psychological safety erodes as team members fear speaking up
• High-potential talent requests transfers or leaves the organization entirely
• Team collaboration suffers as members focus on self-protection rather than collective goals
• Innovation decreases as risk-taking becomes psychologically unsafe
• Company culture becomes fragmented with pockets of dysfunction

Challenge

Primary Goal: Diagnose the specific behavioral patterns and triggers that create toxic dynamics, enabling targeted intervention before valuable talent is lost and team performance deteriorates further.

Why it matters: Toxic leaders can destroy team engagement faster than positive leaders can build it. One dysfunctional leader can cost an organization their salary in turnover, lost productivity, and cultural damage – yet organizations fail to address these patterns decisively.

Key Questions to Answer:

• What specific behaviors create the toxic dynamic?
• Which situational triggers activate their most damaging patterns?
• How do their strengths become leadership liabilities under pressure?
• What intervention approaches could modify these destructive behaviors?

Solution Approach

Deploy targeted behavioral diagnostics that reveal the root causes of leadership toxicity:

Phase 1: Behavioral Pattern Analysis

• Derailment risk profiling - Identify specific behaviors that emerge under stress and create team dysfunction
• Conflict style assessment - Map how their approach to disagreement escalates rather than resolves issues
• Power and control dynamics analysis - Understand how they use authority in ways that damage relationships

Phase 2: Team Impact Assessment

• Multi-source feedback compilation - Gather structured input from direct reports, peers, and stakeholders
• Situational trigger identification - Pinpoint circumstances that activate their most problematic behaviors
• Intervention readiness evaluation - Assess their capacity for behavior change and development

Expected Outcomes

• Immediate (0-2 months): Clear behavioral pattern identification and intervention strategy development
• Medium-term (2-6 months): Reduced team complaints and improved psychological safety indicators
• Long-term (6+ months): Sustainable behavior change or clear decision pathway for leadership transition

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