‘Brilliant’ bosses are the toxic workplace trend that destroys employee morale

The office is not okay – but everyone pretends to be.

Experts are sounding the alarm about toxic work behavior called “shining,” a term that refers to a leader’s failure to address issues and difficulties in the workplace, which prompts employees to rush through work and suppress negative emotions.

Instead of dealing with tough times at work, bosses may try to ease anxieties with toxic positivity, when they should really be having conversations about the underlying problems, experts explain.

While “glaring” can be a “natural response to anxiety or fear,” Leena Rinne, global head of coaching at Skillsoft, told Business Insider, she also warned that the habit can affect workplace morale.

When employees don’t feel seen or heard by leaders who routinely ignore obvious issues or struggles, it creates “a perfect storm for people to show up very carefully.” Feeling insecure can also make higher-ups “less willing to evaluate problems for better solutions” or “take risks and be innovative,” she noted.

Other signs of workplace burnout include refusing to talk about hard times at work, employees complaining behind managers’ backs, leaving cameras out for meetings, and a workforce that’s stressed, burned out, and more likely to call in sick, symptoms of what has also been called the “Great Detachment”.

“So I think senior leaders and all leaders should be concerned about that,” Rinne said, noting that “leaders create culture.”

“There’s a reason why we show up this way at work, and I think senior leaders in particular need to take a pretty hard look to say, what are we creating and how are we motivating people to show up this way?” she continued, calling the habit “laziness” on the part of managers and employers.

Recent data from a Leadership IQ survey of more than 27,000 people found that a paltry 15% of workers believed their employers were honest about workplace and business challenges, while only 23% of respondents said that their boss responded constructively when employees expressed concerns.

Meanwhile, a June study by Science of People found that 68% of people experienced toxic positivity in the workplace in the past week alone, BI reports.

Rinne said leaders can be tempted to “suck in” bad news in an effort to maintain workplace morale, but acknowledging that it’s actually better for employees in the long run.

“Hearing from a leader how disruptive change is on the horizon is going to be so difficult,” Rinne said. “There’s a way to frame that eases anxiety, and there’s a way to frame it that probably reinforces it.”

Rinne offered an example of how managers can better handle the fact that the team is “in a period of divisiveness”: “We know it’s difficult and we’re very grateful that you’re on this journey with us. There’s no one we’d rather we had better than you.”

She recalled a client who forced their team to start every meeting with 60 seconds. While it “takes no time at all,” Rinne continued, it shifts the energy for the meeting.

“You get more when people feel safe and feel engaged than if they punch that clock and beam for hours,” she said.