236: The causes of and cures for a toxic workplace with guest expert Dr. Paul White

Paul White, author of Rising Above a Toxic Workplace

Paul White and Bill Ringle discuss the causes of and cures for a toxic workplace for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.

Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview

Look out for 3 key signals of a toxic workplace: 1) a sick system characterized by disorganization and chaos, lack of communication, lack of accountability, and poor decision-making processes, 2) toxic leaders, and 3) dysfunctional colleagues.
An initial sign of a dysfunctional workplace is that there are significant problems in communication.
A toxic work environment exudes negative communication across the organization and in multiple forms.

Interview Insights

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

Paul tells about his target audience and inspiration for his new book, “Rising Above a Toxic Workplace.” [1:38]
What’s your observation on how a negative work environment occurs? [2:28]
An innocuous way to use indirect communication [04:28]
How to ask for feedback effectively [06:42]
Paul talks about workplace culture as an internal component in an organization [09:46]
Respond consciously rather than just responding emotionally [10:33]
Paul advises on how to better handle small-family owned businesses [12:21]
Face cynicism in the workplace [16:27]
Rules to help establish that level of fundamental trust and respect at work [18:05]
Paul shares strategies for more effective and accurate way to provide feedback [19:58]
The #1 skill related to “Rising Above a Toxic Workplace,” that listeners ought to invest time in learning [25:05]
Paul stresses a key aspect of surviving a toxic workplace [28:20]

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