Could Good Leaders Be Creating Toxic Workplaces Without Realising It?

Toxic workplace cultures rarely begin with leaders who intend to cause harm. Instead, they often develop through a series of small decisions that gradually reshape an organisation, according to leadership mentor Sandeep Suri.

Suri, founder of Aspire and Acquire and a partner at Positive Momentum, said leaders often assess themselves by their intentions.

Employees judge leadership through its impact. That gap can allow unhealthy workplace patterns to grow.

A leader may believe an open-door policy encourages approachability. Employees may still feel unheard.

Similarly, ambitious targets can appear motivating to management but create unsustainable pressure for teams.

Suri cautioned that workplace silence should not automatically signal stability.

Employees may stop voicing concerns when they believe speaking up carries greater risks than remaining quiet.

Defensiveness towards bad news, sidelining dissenting voices and shifting blame downwards can reinforce that silence. Over time, employees learn what they can safely say.

The article also highlights the importance of psychological safety.

High performance requires ambitious goals alongside an environment where employees can acknowledge mistakes without fearing damage to their careers.

Leaders can also lose visibility as organisations expand. Information passes through several managerial layers before reaching senior executives. Each layer can soften difficult messages.

Suri recommends treating feedback as useful data rather than criticism.

Leaders should create safer channels for disagreement and visibly respond to concerns. They should also examine who genuinely gets heard.

The central lesson remains clear: leaders cannot eliminate every blind spot. They must build systems that expose those blind spots before workplace problems become visible through declining retention, employee exits or damaged performance.

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