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We live in difficult times, but perhaps the greatest risk for organizations is not economic instability, artificial intelligence or geopolitics. Perhaps it is leadership. In pressure contexts, leaders tend to reveal what they really are: some generate trust, others spread fear, some mobilize energy, others contaminate teams, some build future, others destroy culture. Today, more than ever, there is a clear line between two types of leadership: the optimist leader and the toxic leader. The question arises: which side do we want to be on? The choice seems obvious, yet reality shows that many organizations continue to reward precisely the wrong behaviors.

Image: hubspot

The silent problem of organizations

For many, optimism is ingenuity. For others, it is perhaps a strategic capacity to face reality without losing the vision of the future. I believe in the second version, but it is certain that in many companies exactly the opposite happens, pressure transforms into micromanagement, excessive control, aggressive communication, constant fear, and a culture of blame and problems. And the data on toxic leadership is alarming. Recent studies show that toxic leadership is directly associated with employee burnout, increased turnover, loss of motivation, drop in innovation, and high psychological stress, with more than 60% of negative results at work being associated with toxic behaviors in the organizational environment.

The toxic leader does not always shout

There is a common mistake when we think that toxic leadership is only extreme aggressiveness, it is not always. Many times it manifests in a subtle way through behaviors such as devaluing people, controlling everything, never recognizing merit, creating insecurity, feeding fear, or using constant pressure as a management method. But without a doubt, the greatest danger is that many organizations still confuse these leaders with “strong” leaders.

The Harvard Business Review warned precisely about this in an excellent article by Deepa Purushothaman and Lisen Stromberg published in 2022, which warned about companies that continue to reward “toxic rock stars” because they generate short-term results, while destroying culture in the long term.

Image: kapable

In this bipolarity between optimism and toxicity, there is an important point to note: the optimist leader does not ignore problems, they are not the one who says “everything will be fine” just because, we could even call this toxic optimism. The true optimist leader recognizes the difficulties, but faces reality, maintaining hope and direction. McKinsey calls it “bounded optimism” optimism anchored in reality, where the leader transmits calmness, creates trust, maintains the vision helping people believe they can overcome challenges, because in moments of uncertainty teams do not look for perfection, they look for emotional stability.

The cultural impact is gigantic

In the United Kingdom, 40.1 million working days were lost due to work-related ill health and non-fatal workplace injuries in the 2024/25 fiscal year. Stress, depression, or anxiety were responsible for 22.1 million of those days. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) notes that 40% of employees identify poor leadership as the main source of stress at work, ahead of workload and job security.

This type of stress directly harms productivity. Other studies on the workforce show that 80% of employees state that stress reduces their productivity and 71% report missing work because of it. The difference between positive and toxic leadership is not only emotional, it is also strategic, having a real and effective impact on the activity.

Organizations dominated by toxicity present lower productivity, higher absenteeism, lower innovation, more internal conflicts, and more psychological burnout. On the other hand, positive cultures increase psychological safety, promote collaboration, accelerate learning, and reinforce commitment. People do not give their best in environments where they survive, they give their best in environments where they trust.

Image: kapable

Conclusion: 

Culture starts at leadership! In the end, all organizations reflect the energy of their leaders: toxic leaders create toxic cultures, positive leaders create resilient and optimistic organizations, and in a world where pressure will continue to increase, perhaps the true competitive advantage is having leaders who help people grow, instead of just survive. In the end, the choice is yours: do you want to lead through fear… or through trust?

Article by Sérgio Almeida, in partnership with Vida Económica.