Most of us have heard about toxic colleagues. For the more unfortunate among us, we have had the unpleasant and stressful experience of having to collaborate with them on a regular basis because that was the nature of the job. Have you tried to do some research on toxic colleagues in the vain hope that you can find some strategy to survive, some magic advice to make it all go away? If you try doing a Google search on “toxic colleagues”, have you any idea of how many articles are listed? Go on, have an educated guess. I didn’t have a clue. But I do now. It’s “About 35,700,000 results.” Yes, 35,700,000 give or take 
a few thousands. I even had to check and re-check that figure to make sure that I wasn’t imaging all those zeros. That’s a really hard-hittingfigure. It’s sad and quite terrifying.
There is lots of expert advice about how to deal with toxic colleagues but the psychological effort of implementing coping mechanisms depletes energy levels. It’s exhausting. It’s a strain. It’s debilitating. You grit your teeth behind a smile and hope that you will survive this period. You try to develop strategies to defuse potentially ugly incidents. Your tactics may include taking a deep breath before picking up the phone, asking a colleague to take a message…And all of this because your heart hammers when you see the toxic name on your phone, or for some of you your stomach may churn, or maybe for somebody else it’s the disbelief and anger about the lies the toxic colleague tells to hide their own incompetence and mistakes by blaming it on you.
Not only is it not good for the individual but it’s not optimal for a company. Heard the case of the assistant who was willfully uncooperative and held back a crucial contract because they were in the cc line of an e-mail and therefore decided that they would not take the normal and logical step to forward it for action? It’s inexcusable. It’s called being passive-aggressive. It’s behaviour that can have serious repercussions for a company. But it’s a consequence of pushing somebody to their limits compounded by the feeling of impotence when faced with a toxic worker who is untouchable. How can such a situation be allowed to develop and even thrive? One person who is allowed to make the lives of others miserable, whereby there are burn-outs, re-affectations, resignations and sackings.
And then one day, hallelujah, that person is fired and you naively think that the book is closed and we can all go and work happily ever after. Unfortunately, it was only Part 1. Now for Part 2: The Aftermath.
Toxicity doesn’t simply vaporise when that person leaves the organization. This in no good fairy, with a twinkle of her magic wand, makes it all disappear and everything gets back to normal. Why? Because nothing in the company’s structure has changed, there is no mea culpa, there is no official recognition of the widespread upset and distress that has been caused.
Just like environmental pollution, the damage that has been wrought can take months and even years to be neutralized. This is the particular legacy of a toxic worker when their behavior has been at best ignored and at worst condoned at the highest levels in an organization.
Your performance and results may be irreproachable but the fallout can effect your reputation, your standing within the organization. Those of you who bore the brunt of your toxic colleague are now subject to the after-shocks. And if you don’t have the support of your boss, it could also end your career. It’s not fair and it’s not right but that is the way it is. So, what’s the antidote? I don’t know but this is what I will apply: stay true to yourself and your values; behave with integrity. Hold your head up and march on the path that you have chosen.
