Challenge of maintaining one’s personal integrity in unhealthy work environments: toxic hegemony.

Most people know that a toxic manager is one who manipulates others for his own enhancement. Through their behaviours and actions ‘toxic manager’ contribute to the degradation of the quality of work, morale and cause instability within an organization. In four decades of social work practice the author has experienced many workplaces where bullying and harassment have been common place with detrimental effects on staff morale, individual and group well being, and the collective capacity to achieve organisational goals. Until recently the author viewed the bullying and harassment as ‘the problem’ however she now posits that they are the ‘tools’ of the toxic manager who seeks to gain and maintain control through the creation of chaos. How do we change such environments? This paper names and describes different behaviours designed to generate chaos which serve to re-enforce and validate the toxic manager’s authority within the organisation.

The paper will then outline strategies for coping with Toxic Managers. Strategies the presenter has found helpful in her efforts to minimise the destabilising effects of those behaviours so that one’s sense of personal and professional integrity (wholeness) is not undermined or compromised. Examples will be drawn from the author’s experience within government and non-government organisations with particular reference to community organisations and child protection services. Pamela Trotman, B.Soc Wk, continues to seek out new challenges as part of her commitment to her own professional development and to further her contribution to the field of social work.