Toxic managers often attempt to hide their hostility and negativity with sarcasm and passive-aggressive language. Here are the kinds of comments that suggest a toxic, dysfunctional environment:
- “Did you think this was well done?” Such rhetorical questions do nothing but hurt morale, performance, and engagement.
- “I should have expected this from you.” If you were really expected to fail at a task, why did your boss give it to you? Instead, it should have been assigned to someone else, or your manager should have coached you so that you could succeed.
- “Let’s schedule our one-on-one for 6 pm.” A good manager realizes and respects that people have responsibilities and interests outside of work and that work-life balance is essential. A comment like this is less of a request and more of a power-play.
- “Being on time for a meeting is being late.” No, being on time for a meeting is being on time. If it essential for you to be early to a meeting for some reason, this should be stated in advance, as well as the reason for such an expectation.
