What we tolerate from leaders often becomes the standard for everyone else.

In the modern workplace, a toxic culture doesn’t just appear overnight. It often creeps in, fed by complacency, a lack of emotional intelligence (EQ), and an absence of psychological safety. And perhaps the most insidious part? The lowest level of behaviour you’re willing to accept from leadership may be setting the bar for your culture.

Low EQ in Leaders - A Culture of Disconnect

• When leaders lack emotional intelligence, they struggle to connect meaningfully with their teams. Low EQ manifests as a failure to empathize, listen, and adapt to different communication styles. Over time, this leads to employee disengagement, high turnover, and poor performance.
• Example: A manager who responds to employee concerns with indifference or judgment, rather than understanding, can make employees feel undervalued or even defensive—setting the tone for emotional disconnection across the team.

Psychological Safety - The Foundation of Trust

• A lack of psychological safety hinders honest conversations, innovation, and risk-taking, stifling creativity and limiting team growth. If people feel they can’t speak up without fear of retaliation or humiliation, they’re less likely to take chances, leading to stagnant work environments.
• Example: In a workplace lacking psychological safety, employees may avoid discussing challenges or new ideas, worried that they'll face criticism instead of support.

The Lowest Standard of Leadership Behaviour You’re Willing to Accept

• This final factor is perhaps the biggest silent killer of all. Every organization has unspoken rules about the “bare minimum” it expects from its leaders. When this bar is set low, unacceptable behaviours like micromanagement, condescension, or dismissiveness become normalized.
• Example: If even one senior leader consistently dismisses others’ opinions, it can create a ripple effect, making it acceptable for others to act the same way—resulting in a widespread culture of disrespect.

What Can Be Done?

Building a resilient, positive workplace culture starts with raising the standard for leadership behaviour and making a commitment to EQ and psychological safety. Here are three tangible actions to set the foundation:

• Make EQ Development a Priority: Offer regular training and coaching to help leaders grow their EQ and support a more connected workplace (hint: Kindred AI is helping managers and their teams by offering EQ assessments at scale 👏🏼leadership & their teams 👏🏼 AND with the help of an AI powered EQ co-pilot to support their ongoing emotional health)
• Create Clear, Safe Feedback Channels: Encourage feedback at all levels, ensuring that everyone feels heard and valued. (hint: Braver Leaders - Team and Leadership Performance does this with excellence through their programs like 'Purposeful Leadership' and 'Leader as Coach'.)
• Set and Reinforce High Standards for Behaviour: Redefine the minimum acceptable leadership behaviours, so everyone understands what’s tolerated—and what’s not.

The culture of any workplace begins and ends with its leaders.

Whether you're a manager of a team, an HR Leader, CPO, a burnt out operations or sales manager :

👉🏽 invest in EQ coaching

👉🏽 EQ assessments (you don't know what you don't know, right? what is your EQ?)

👉🏽 development sessions to strengthen psychological safety, build trust, and help leaders show up at their best

Would love to hear your thoughts: where do you see these “silent killers” cropping up? Drop me a note to share. Be honest ;)

Self-awareness isn’t something to fear 👻—though it's natural to feel that way. You’re not alone in this. The good news? Embracing a deeper understanding of yourself is the key to unlocking your inner greatness.

I’m always up for a ☕️ chat—let’s connect if you’d like to dive deeper into this conversation!

Staying focused on what lights ✨ me up,

Amanda