The term "fascism" has been thrown around in America today as the ultimate evil government: a government where a leader manipulates, controls, suppresses, oppresses, and afflicts those that sit beneath his reign. A picture hanging on the wall of the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. has gone viral with its "Early Warning Signs of Fascism." Political scientist Laurence W. Britt compiled this list in 2003. However, on a much smaller scale, we are exposed to leaders in our daily lives in school, sports, and other activities.
Unfortunately, as historical fascist leaders did, many leaders abuse their power, often before we realize the extent of how they damage us. As someone who has endured toxic leadership, here are my "Early Warning Signs of Toxic Leadership."
1. Actions Without Words
Yes, actions speak louder than words. However, we need words to justify and support the actions, or else the actions send a cryptic and confusing message. If a coach randomly benches a player without explanation or a club president fires the social media director without any specific reason why, the leadership is toxic. Leaders can be enigmatic in order to feel more "in control," as though they can manipulate the outcome because of their position.
2. Unjustifiable Favoritism
There is natural favoritism if the track coach favors the fastest hurdler or the math teacher favors the boy who grasps concepts quickly or the book club president favors the girl who reads the most. Favoritism is never "just" or "right" but favoritism of random and seemingly undeserving people is a deeper problem. If no one can fathom why an athlete or a club member is glorified, that is a flaw in the leadership.
3. Frequent Promotions and Demotions
Leaders often take advantage of the fact that they have ultimate control over who has what position. If a soccer coach constantly shuffles who plays varsity and who plays JV and who starts, that is not him trying to find the right lineup but rather exercise his ability to construct the team however he wants, which is a leadership issue.
4. Indirect Belittling
Some leaders fear to lose their position so badly that they attempt to be passive aggressive when scolding people. If everybody knows you were the one who forgot an English project and the English teacher complains to the entire class, without mentioning your name, that people are stupid for forgetting projects, that is an abuse of power. Good leaders are upfront and will call you aside if they have an issue with your performance in class or on the field.
5. Deliberate Ostracization
The severely unfortunate but frequent truth is that many leaders like to manipulate. Though it is absolutely villainous, some leaders like to soil friendships through their decisions. If a club president knows that four girls are friends but only puts three of them on the executive board or a coach makes two out of three friends team captains, that is a horrible sign of toxic leadership. These actions elevate a leader's sense of control and power; some leaders like to alter relationships.
6. Reaffirming of Credentials
Poor leaders frequently use their status as a leader to elevate their own sense of self-worth. To protect their position, they may reiterate all of their credentials to brainwash everyone to believe that they are good leaders. If a coach states, "I received All-American honors when I played in college" or a teacher reminds everyone, "I won a state-wide chemistry competition and graduated from Harvard," there is a severe issue with the leader's ego.
7. Reminder of Leadership
Any leader that has to say "I am the president," "I am the boss," or "I am in charge" is already warning everyone that she will use her power in wrongful and manipulative ways. The love of power creates tension, rather than stability, in a group. Any authoritarian leader in history has loved power so much that he used it to oppress his people. Therefore, if a leader indicates that she loves power, that is a red flag.
8. Identification of Targets
Most of us have been scolded by some leader above us whether it is a teacher, boss, or coach. That is fine. That is normal. What is not normal is if the same people are repeatedly scolded...even when they do not appear to be doing anything wrong. Toxic leaders are predators and try to identify their prey. When they destroy the prey, they feel as though they are on a higher pedestal where they have more control.
9. Becoming a "Friend"
If the theater director or volleyball coach seems to act as if she is in the social circle of people in the group, that is a sly tactic to accumulate more power. Having a healthy relationship where you can confide in an authority figure is awesome. What is not awesome is when the person appears to "meddle into" the social circle and tell secrets to some while excluding others. This method is an unfortunate way for a leader to elevate her status.
10. Instilling Fear
Leaders are meant to be respected but never to be feared. If the mere thought of asking a teacher a question or making a bad pass in basketball sends a wave of chills down your body, that demonstrates that the leader has taken on the role of a dictator rather than a mentor. You should never be afraid to make a mistake or ask for clarification.
11. Irrationality or Unpredictability
A good leader is rational, predictable, and fair. If you have no idea which person will get the lead role in a play because of strange and seemingly unfair choices, the director is abusing his power. Toxic leaders feel a sense of empowerment when they make random and strange choices because they have all of this control.
12. Superlatives
If your field hockey team has a huge win in the state tournament and the coach tells everybody that it was the "best game you ever played," that is motivating and an appropriate moment to use a superlative. However, when individuals are identified as "the best player [the coach] has ever seen" or a particular pass was "the worst pass the team has ever made," that is the coach trying to control the emotions of the players. Emotionally manipulative behaviors are toxic.
13. Reactivity Over Proactivity
Knowing exactly how to improve your singing, lacrosse skills, artistic skills, or ability to write is important because that is the way you grow, both as a singer/athlete/artist/writer and as a person. Poor leaders often enjoy reproaching people because they equate "yelling" with "exercising their power." Therefore, if you only know if you are doing something wrong and never know how to do it right, that is a problem with the leadership.
14. Threats
Nobody deserves to feel threatened. Nobody deserves to feel that their spot on a team or an a committee can be lost upon making a single mistake. Nobody. Leaders who feel that threats will lead to better performance or help them exercise their control are the most toxic of the bunch. When you commit to doing an activity, you should feel safe and willing to make mistakes and learn from them. If any extracurricular is harming your self-worth or your ability to perform, it might be better to let go. Life is too short to allow anyone to impede your ability to do what you love and love what you do.
