Brene Brown Warns of 5 Traits of Toxic Work Culture

In 2021, many employees quit their jobs en masse creating an economic trend known as "The Great Resignation". The most reliable predictor of employee resignation was toxic work culture. Brene Brown describes 5 attributes of toxic work culture:

1) Disrespect: Rudeness, lack of consideration, unkindness and bad attitudes are often tolerated and allowed to spread within a company due to people who produce well for the company but lack people skills and cooperation.

2) Non-inclusive: As a leader, Brene Brown warns "If you’re not concerned about representation and equity and inclusion and you’re not willing to have hard conversations around those things...You will not be leading in five or 10 years.”

3) Unethical: Any company with dishonest business practices, that is not complying with regulations or is in any way operating with a disregard to fairness, morals and ethical business practices is creating an unsustainable and toxic work environment.

4) Cutthroat: Companies that reward people for fostering unhealthy competitive attitudes, backstabbing, and personal wins over team/company wins may get high performances from employees, but it will be at the cost of high employee turnover.

5) Abuse: Abusive behaviors such as bullying, harassment or hostility are the clearest indicators of a toxic work environment. They're often dismissed as jokes, marginalized as "just one small department" or other excuses, but they are a top contributor to employee resignations.

Brown also describes an employee she calls a "golden unicorn". One who has been with the company long enough to deeply understand the vision, culture, history, as well as the daily operations and excels at them. Most importantly though, they're adaptable and always learning.

Losing even 1 "golden unicorn" employee can cost a company in a major way, but losing multiple can be catastrophic to any business. That is why Brown has spoken out about these 5 traits for over 10 years as they continue to be the top reasons for talent turnover.

The antidote to nearly all toxic work environments? Leaders who dare to be vulnerable. A top-down attitude of "I’m here to get it right, not here to be right. I’m a learner, not a knower. My value is in my curiosity and having really good questions, not having all the answers."

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Brene Brown's tips from Daring Greatly: Coping with a painful past and uncertain future According to Dr. Brene Brown, fear of emotional risk stems from an aversion to v