“In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Sand fleas are difficult to see, but you can feel their effects. And once they get hold of you, it takes a professional to get rid of them. Sand fleas really aren’t fleas at all. They are crustaceans that swim, jump, and feed off the blood of humans and animals. If left unattended long enough, these tiny creatures can burrow under the skin, causing welts and illness. They prefer pale skin since it’s usually thinner and therefore easier to latch onto. They can penetrate anything within ten inches from the ground, so you’ll typically find the bites around your ankles.
Toxic people invade our leadership in the same way. At first, things might seem very small and minuscule. Just entertaining their toxic traits a little here and there, we think all is ok, and it won’t affect us, our team members, or our organization. When we pay enough attention however… Or they start to impact others and the culture within our circle, well, eventually, we can’t pay them or their traits enough attention.
One of my previous managers was like this. I saw all of the signs that he was toxic to our culture, even early on, but I chose to ignore them. I thought as time went on, he’d get better. I knew that letting this employee go was going to add more work to my already seemingly overflowing workload. It got to a point where some of my rockstar employees were threatening to leave if I didn’t get the exterminator on this “sand flea”. Even at that point, I found myself defending him and sweeping the toxic traits under the rug instead of facing the problem head on before the infestation took over our culture!
It doesn’t take long to get too bad to remain in our culture, eventually we finally start to act. We start to tell them “hey, you have kind of a bad attitude. Is everything ok?” Or maybe it’s their punctuality. “Hey, our start time is X, you coming in late is making it difficult on our other team members”. Or maybe they are creating a toxic alliance against you and your leadership, and now their toxicity is multiplying! It can be a multitude of invasions, depending on the person and your relationship with them. That is how it finally came to a head with my toxic manager. I made him take some time off to deal with his attitude, only for the infestation to be exposed within 1 or 2 days of him being away!
Talking to them will get rid of it once and for all, right? No? What do you mean? Maybe just one more ‘bad attitude’ day won’t hurt anything, right? Or maybe if we “trade” one bad action for another seemingly less harmful action, it’s ok… Or, we try any number of ways to escape their attitudes that has latched on to others. We escape the day to day and take a vacation away, hoping that when we come back, things will be better. We even try to bargain with them. All of a sudden, we realize we’re infested. The problems have now taken over.
We all face toxic friendships, employees, or even a toxic relationship. And the longer we remain around the toxicity, much like the sand flea infestation, it will take over our lives, or the culture of our organization. Not only does this hurt ourselves, we also hurt others that look to us as leaders of influence.
Just like a sand flea infestation, we require the direction of professional growth and care. And the longer we let our lives be invaded, the harder it is to rid ourselves and our leadership of the infestation. When you leave a sandy beach, it’s wise to shake out your towel or blankets, and check your body for any unwanted guests that may be trying to head home with you. Our lives and leadership are the same way. Each and every day as we tie a bow on our day, and every morning when we are planning our day, it’s wise to think deep into the interactions you may have experienced that day, to analyze if something or someone just didn’t seem right. Or if there’s been a sudden change in the attitude of a friend, manager, or employee.
The concept of toxic infestations in our culture is more prevalent than ever. Left unchecked, it has the potential to permeate every aspect of our lives, leading to an organization infested with negativity and division. Don’t let time go by without diving deeper to learn about what may be invading you. It’s much easier to deal with one with a simple “flick”, than to wait until you’re fully infested.
As you wrap up reading this blog, take 5-10 minutes in complete silence and think about what is going on around you. Is there an infestation trying to invade you? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Handle it today! It might have to get harder before it gets easier, but you’ll be glad you did.