Picture this: You join a new team at a massive global corporation, only to find it feels more like a family drama than a professional setting. One guy, his wife, his best friend, his best friend’s fiancée... and then there’s you and another random outlier.
How does this even happen in a global organization? Sure, you might expect it in a small, family-run business, but in a professional setting, where’s the line between healthy camaraderie and cliquish behavior that poisons the team?
I’ve seen this firsthand, and I’ve coached leaders navigating the fallout of such toxic dynamics.
Spoiler: it’s not pretty.
🚩 The Subtle—and Not-So-Subtle—Red Flags of Toxic Alliances
1️⃣ The Exclusion Factor: A coachee once told me every team meeting felt like walking into someone else’s inside joke. A tight group of senior colleagues had become the de facto decision-makers, leaving others in the dark.
What happened? Ideas stopped flowing, collaboration tanked, and morale hit rock bottom. That tight-knit group was silently (and sometimes not so silently) dismantling the team’s culture.
2️⃣ Personal Over Professional: I worked with a leader who joined a team where the boss hired his best friend’s sibling. Decisions became personal, not professional, and those outside the inner circle quickly realized their input didn’t matter.
It wasn’t just favoritism—it was betrayal. When trust is eroded, disengagement and quiet quitting aren’t far behind.
3️⃣ The Bully Clique: Another coachee shared how conflict in their team always went the same way: a group of colleagues ganged up on one person under the guise of “alignment.” Leadership brushed it off as “drama,” but the person being targeted felt silenced, undermined, and bullied.
Why Does This Happen?
Lack of Oversight: Managers turning a blind eye to team dynamics.
Comfort Over Merit: Hiring friends instead of the best people for the job.
Avoidance Culture: Leadership dodging difficult conversations.
Toxicity thrives in environments where no one’s willing to set boundaries or hold people accountable.
Drawing the Line: How to Tackle Toxic Team Dynamics
If you’re a leader, here’s where to start:
1️⃣ Audit the Team: Are personal relationships influencing professional decisions? If so, it’s time for a reality check.
2️⃣ Mix It Up: Rotate team members on projects and foster cross-functional collaboration to break up cliques.
3️⃣ Intervene Early: Toxicity is like mold—deal with it fast, or it spreads. Call out exclusion, favoritism, or bullying before it festers.
4️⃣ Set Clear Expectations: Professionalism and fairness aren’t negotiable. Make sure everyone understands the ground rules.
Creating a Team Where Everyone Thrives
In healthy teams, people feel empowered to share ideas without fear of backlash. Creativity flourishes, productivity soars, and no one feels like an outsider.
But achieving this requires intentional effort:
Are we including everyone in discussions and decisions?
Are we addressing conflicts transparently?
Are personal biases staying out of professional spaces?
Reflection: What Are You Tolerating?
When I found myself in a toxic team, I tried to make the best of it by staying true to what I knew was the right thing to do—even when gossip, provocations, gaslighting, and cliquishness tried to pull me in. I focused on integrity, delivered results, and, when the first opportunity presented itself, got the h**l out of there.
You can too.
As the year ends, it’s the perfect time to pause and reflect.
Are you tolerating toxicity in your team or workplace?
What do you want to leave behind as you step into a new year?
Eric Fromm once said, “Freedom is not something anyone can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.”
What kind of freedom are you ready to take in 2025?
PS: If this resonates with you, join my Strategic Planning Workshop 2025 on December 17th. In this action-oriented one hour workshop, you will map out your vision and plan for the new year—one that’s clear, intentional, and free of unnecessary toxicity.
Here's to making 2025 the year you detox and thrive. 💪
Hi! I'm Merve. 👋 I help leaders build high performing teams, amplify their business impact, and advance their careers.
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