After almost 15 years of being a people manager, my belief is that a toxic culture is caused by the following:
Leadership: There is no getting around it. It starts at the top. As a former manager put it to me once, “What you whisper on the stage, becomes a hurricane by the time it gets to the back of the auditorium.” Your behaviour as a leader drives the culture, and if you don’t focus on the right things, chances are, no one else will either.
Promoting based on wrong criteria: The legal profession, like many other high-performing professions, has a weakness for the prima donna. In other words, if you are good at your work, whether making deals, court craft or drafting, the chances are high that you will be looked upon as a leader. The criteria used almost never considers whether you will make a good leader of people. I have seen many examples in my career of otherwise supremely talented lawyers transitioning to terrible people managers.
Accountability: Finally, a culture of impunity, solely based on technical brilliance or the ability to bring in revenue, is a recipe for failure. Being made a leader of people is a responsibility not to be taken lightly, and it is extremely important that people are taught what is expected of them and then held accountable for their actions.
Source: Barandbench
