20 Signs You Have a Toxic Boss (Examples)

A bad work environment isn’t typically caused by the stress of the work we do. Most people genuinely enjoy working in their field and growing within it. Typically, when we feel stressed at work, it’s due to the people around us, particularly our boss. Having a toxic boss can be one of the biggest reasons why people leave a job. In this article, we’re going to share the 15 red-flag signs you have a toxic boss.

15 Signs You Have a Toxic Boss

1. They constantly criticize you

In a growth mindset, most people take feedback, learn from it, and grow because of it. But there’s a difference between feedback that challenges you to rise to the occasion and feedback that shrinks you down to nothing. Constructive criticism is typically helpful in the workplace. Yet, when you’ve got a toxic boss, their criticism leaves little room for growth. Often, it’ll reduce your performance and willingness to put in effort. The problem with toxic bosses is that they often don’t have a good positive-to-negative interaction mix. People need to have five positive interactions for every negative one. So, when you get too many critical comments from a toxic boss, it often feels overwhelming because there just aren’t enough positive ones, leaving you deflated.

2. They isolate you from the team

They might have separate group chats where your whole team engages, from which you're intentionally left out of. They might also exclude you from team meetings. Maybe you'll be the only woman excluded from a meeting room of men, or you'll be left off the calendar for a meeting that you have something to say in. You might even notice they exclude you from certain projects or work processes, such as interviewing.

3. They attribute your impact to luck

Many high performers have been told that their success is due to luck or a mere fluke. But you know this isn’t actually true. Most often, top performers have strong work ethics, good habits, and an ability to execute more than others. A toxic boss will quickly dismiss your hard work and strategy by attributing it to some mystical fluke or just luck. Trying to convince your boss that the work you did yielded those results will be an uphill battle, especially if trying to get a pay raise or promotion. A great boss would see the effort and skill you’re putting in at work. They would be happy to recognize your impact. If your boss doesn't do that, they could be a red flag leader.

4. They block your growth

If you’ve got a toxic boss, they’ll work hard to block your growth. They’ll often see you as a threat or feel intimidated by you. They could play games and make you jump through hoops for a “chance” to get promoted or to “prove” yourself. But in the end, you’ll feel defeated because they were never serious about your career growth in the first place. You'll often find yourself chasing moving goal posts, leading you to burnout.

A toxic boss might also prevent you from switching teams and maybe even companies. They might leave a negative review about you to the team you apply to or give a bad reference. Often, bad bosses have fixed mindsets and want you to stay where you are because they think you’re beneath them. You might find yourself getting put on performance plans that have fabricated or out-of-context content. For example, a toxic boss might screenshot negative interactions and then wait until you're on vacation to delete your message history so you won't notice. By doing this, he's likely preparing to put you on a PIP or performance plan where you won't be able to actually show what led to those messages, so you won't be able to defend yourself.

5. They'll create a competitive environment

A workplace thriving on competition is one where everyone at the company is living in ego. When you have to compete at work via challenges, competitions, or activities like that you're often pushing people to aim to be better than each other instead of working together. Collaboration and healthy team dynamics are an important part of a healthy work environment; competition isn't.

6. They micromanage your work

A toxic boss is often a micromanager. They’ll be more likely to take over your tasks if they don’t think it’s a good fit, or they’ll want to approve everything you do. To prevent micromanagement, you might ask for feedback on how to think or approach something that they often want done in a certain way to ensure you approach things with the same way of thinking as them.

7. They take credit for your accomplishments

One of the big signs you’ve got a toxic boss is when they take credit for your accomplishments. They might say your work was a team effort or not give credit where credit is due when presenting data on key metrics. A toxic boss or bad manager would show the runaway results of something as if they did it themselves. In a good environment, a leader or a good boss would give a shout-out to the person or people who worked on a project to help ensure they feel recognized.

8. They gossip about colleagues

Office gossip is usually an indicator of a bad culture. In good cultures, it actually doesn’t exist. If your manager or superior is gossiping about colleagues to you, they might also be gossiping about you to other colleagues. Any time a boss mentions gossip they’ve heard from someone else about you is usually an indication that you’ve got yourself a toxic boss. A true leader would nip it in the bud if they heard someone gossiping in the office. They may say something like, “you should give so and so the benefit of the doubt” or “try approaching a conversation with them like this instead” to help them gossipers problem-solve their work relationship problems instead of spreading rumors at work.

9. They fail to give praise or recognition

A toxic boss is the type of person you’ll never feel appreciated by. You might proudly show them something you created or a target you just hit that you’re proud of, but ultimately, they’ll be dismissive of it. They might say, “Good, you’re finally doing your job,” or “That’s what you’re supposed to be doing.” And if you do something astronomically great, they’ll attribute it to luck or some supernatural phenomenon that had nothing to do with you. You will never hear “great work” or “Wow, all that hard work and effort is starting to show some pretty extraordinary results.” You’ll feel deflated because you genuinely are trying your best, but still feel like you’re coming up short.

10. They withhold information

A toxic boss might assign you a project without any details about it. As a result, you wait for their further information before starting it. Then, they'll try to remove you from the project because they decided you didn't take the work seriously enough. As a result, you get put on a PIP even though they never shared the details of the project.

11. They avoid meetings with you

A busy boss might not be able to show up to every meeting with you. But on average, a good boss recognizes the importance of having face time with each member of the team. They’ll want to ensure that everyone gets some face time, even if it’s just a short ten-minute call. When you have a toxic boss, it may be weeks without a single meeting. The lack of a meeting may cause issues as well. Often, when working with your peers, video calls give you more opportunities to bond with your superior. So, you’ll be better able to feel appreciated or recognized. You can share ideas and get feedback with ease. A toxic boss will reduce the number of meetings they have with people, or they might choose to have them only with a limited group of people. You might never be invited to certain team meetings, and you might find you were the only one excluded, too.

12. They delete conversations with you

A sign that you have a toxic boss is that they’ll delete their conversation history with you. This is often done if you confront them on something, they’ll delete the evidence. They might also do this if they’re planning on writing you up to put you on a performance improvement plan or a PIP. Often, deleting conversations is done with bad intentions. If you suddenly notice that a Slack history has been deleted by your boss, something bad may be lurking around the corner. It’s also a huge red flag that your boss is toxic.

13. They constantly change the goal post

One of the clearest indicators that you have a bad manager is that they constantly change the goal post. A boss will tell you that change is necessary and that it’s important to revise plans and goals as you get more feedback, and that’s true. However, when the goal post is changed every time you accomplish something big and you never get the recognition you deserve, it might feel a bit more personal than it should. A goal post constantly being changed is a sign that the company isn’t doing well, targets aren’t being hit, and that the direction the leader is taking isn’t the right one. This is usually a sign of bad leadership.

14. Your colleagues ask you what you think of them

In toxic cultures, you’ll see a lot of turnover in leadership. And with new leaders coming in often, you’ll likely at some point get asked the question, “So, what do you think of the new manager?” Most people don’t usually ask this question when they meet someone they like. They usually ask the question to gauge what other people are thinking about the person. Often, when you like a new manager, you usually just tell people that directly. If you’re asking for someone’s opinion on a person, it’s usually an indicator that something is off with them. You probably want to tiptoe around the answer, but if you feel like something is off, too, it’s probably a red flag or a sign you have a toxic boss.

15. They think your traits are fixed

A toxic boss often has a fixed mindset. That means they believe some people are naturally talented and others aren't. A growth mindset boss would believe that skills are learnable and can be improved upon. The downside to having a boss with a fixed mindset is that when you learn and improve at something, they’ll likely dismiss it or discredit it as a fluke. A fixed mindset boss will not notice improvements in others, as they don’t believe people can change. If you have a growth mindset and are continuously learning and working on your craft, a toxic boss won't doesn’t acknowledge or notice those changes.

16. They pick favorites

Toxic bosses are most likely to choose favorites. The favorites they choose will be more likely to get opportunities for career growth and advancement, leaving others in the dust. When it comes to assigning certain projects or important tasks, they’ll choose the colleagues they like best. It won’t be picking people for projects based on their competence or what they’re best suited for. You might be raising your hand or even directly asking for certain opportunities, only to be overlooked for them. The bond they have with their favorite colleague will be unbreakable. And if you want to be in the in-group, you’ll need to play politics with both the toxic boss and their favorite colleagues.

17. They gaslight you

A toxic boss will gaslight you into thinking something they said wasn't really said. You'll start questioning your memory and failing to remember why you think he or she said something, and then denying it. The mind games from a toxic boss will be next level.

18. You develop work anxiety

Whether it’s the Sunday scaries or just general work dread, a toxic boss can make you feel stressed or anxious about heading into work each day. Often, the reason why you experience work anxiety from this kind of boss is that they’re unpredictable. It’s not the person who’s mean all the time that’s hard to work with, because you’d just do your best to avoid them. It’s the person who’s sometimes in a good mood and sometimes screaming at you or making your life difficult. When there’s an imbalance in someone’s mood, you start to feel like you’re walking on eggshells just to meet their needs. And that’s exactly where the anxiety starts. If someone’s words or actions can throw off your whole day because they blindsides you, you’ve probably got a toxic boss in your office.

19. They never take accountability

When you're interacting with a toxic boss, you'll notice how they always shift the blame onto you or another team member. They never take accountability. They won't be receptive to feedback, and they won't think they need to change their strategy. In their minds, they're good, and you're bad.

20. They make you feel small

Have you ever met someone with a big ego? They puff themselves up to prove themselves. Well, if you look at that person’s boss quite carefully, you’ll find they’re probably a bad manager. People with big egos usually inflate themselves because they feel small. So, it begs the question. Who’s shrinking them so small that they need to overinflate themselves? In the workplace, it’s usually their toxic boss. When you notice someone on your team is always hyping themselves up, the easiest way to get them to stop is to give them praise, recognition, or a compliment on their work ethic and performance. When people feel appreciated by the people around them, they usually stop overhyping themselves. So, if you see a lot of big ego energy on your team, look to see who’s leading them.

How to Protect Yourself from a Toxic Boss

Document Everything

If you don't want to get reprimanded by your toxic boss, you will need to have screenshots and evidence on your personal device, so in the event of termination, you have all the evidence laid out in front of you for what was happening there. You can screenshot inappropriate messages that they sent to you or disrespectful language that was spoken.

Build a support system

Most people will tell you to build a support system at work, such as colleagues. However, you should actually build a support system at home. Build a new friend group to take out your work frustrations. Personally, I do jiu jitsu after work, allowing me to release any tension before going to bed. I've met all sorts of new people there, allowing me to have healthier relationships. Finding the hobbies and interests that will allow you to build strong friendships, release your stress, and build a new path for yourself will allow you to grow from the experience instead of drowning in it.

Find a new job

I get it, the job market isn't that great right now, so jumping ship might seem like a scary idea. Plus, people can get trauma-bonded to their boss. However, it's always best to leave an abusive situation. If you have something tying you to the company, such as equity you're waiting to be paid out, you can either wait for it without a guarantee that the value of the company will improve or you can find a new role with the same sort of compensation package. Finding a job while you have a job is much easier than finding a job after you've been laid off or terminated. If you're brave enough to look for your next role, you can sign up for Huntr to build your resume, get an AI resume review, and generate cover letters, too.

How do you deal with a toxic boss?

Trying to confront a toxic boss won’t get you very far. If your boss is causing you stress or making you dread going into work, it's probably best to refresh your resume and look for your next gig. Fortunately, with Huntr, you can build a brand-new resume and cover letter to find a new role with a better management team. To start the job search and create your new resume, sign up for Huntr today.