I have spoken to some people lately about working in toxic work environments and I thought I would give you my take on it. What I find is that this sort of thing almost always starts at the top. It is the owner or manager that breeds the toxicity.

If owners or managers of businesses lack personal health in their own lives, they bring it to work with them. They, in turn, hire like-minded people; they also manage their people with dysfunction, and they make decisions based on ego. This is a recipe for an unhappy work environment and long term vulnerability for the company.

My advice to someone working at a place like this is to confront the powers that be and let them know you don’t want to play or you need to seriously consider getting out. My advice to a business owner who has the courage to look at this issue is to do your own work. Read a book, go to counseling, hire a healthy manager, do whatever, but don’t continue to breed dysfunction in your business. It will cost you time, money and your own serenity. The price is too high.

Here is another article I found offering tips on How to Survive a Toxic Work Environment.