Where do you draw the line between toxic gossip and workplace misconduct?
A Citi director in the UK couldn’t handle performance feedback from his MD. Instead of dealing with it, he kept drawing other people into the conflict.
He maintained a ranking of his peers, ordered by how much of a “favorite” each one was with the MD, and circulated it, which fed constant division within the team.
He shared confidential information about HR actions to make himself seem more credible and sympathetic. Again and again, he crossed the line between venting personal frustration and actively leading a campaign against the MD.
When the investigator asked why I thought people came to me with these stories, I said I believed it was ill-intended, and that I wasn’t going to be drawn into whatever sick dynamic was going on. The investigator dropped me from the investigation and moved on to other colleagues, who naturally couldn’t wait to share the details.
So much for confidentiality.
The hypocrisy became obvious when the reorganization was announced. Fearing for his own position, the director reversed course, dropped the hostility, and tried to butter up the same MD he had spent months undermining.
Much to my disbelief, it worked.
Then there are those who look at another director and say they aren’t good at their job, but they try hard, so they like them. Or, they’re being unfairly favored, but I like them, so I won’t object.
Watching toxic gossip drive these directors was a daily reminder of what absent leadership looks like.
We put people with no character and no integrity in leadership positions, then expect transformation to stick.
True leaders focus on collaboration, accountability, and psychological safety. They don’t fracture a team or make poor personnel decisions on some whimsical personal notion.
Are we still wondering why ERM Tech & Data is so messed up?