Stefanie Costi

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The most dangerous person in a toxic workplace isn’t the bully.

It’s the leader who knows the bully is a problem but keeps them anyway because they are a “high performer.”

I see this happen every single day in my legal practice.

A manager is aggressive, exclusionary, and manipulative. They have a trail of broken employees behind them. HR has a file full of informal complaints.

But because that manager brings in the most revenue or hits every KPI, leadership looks the other way.

They call the manager “intense” or “old school.”

They tell the victims to “be more resilient” or “learn how to handle different personalities.”

When you protect a high-performing bully, you are telling every other employee that their mental health has a price tag.

You are telling them that as long as someone makes the company money, they are allowed to destroy people.

That isn’t leadership. That’s complicity.

And eventually, it will cost you more than that bully ever brought in. You will lose your best talent, your reputation, and eventually, you’ll be facing a legal claim you can’t ignore.

Stop rewarding people for being “great at their job” when they are terrible human beings to work with.

Do you agree?

♻️ Repost this. Let’s make work safer for everyone.

(Follow me Stefanie Costi, on Instagram @stefanie_costi or TikTok @stefaniecosti for more honest advice about work and how to protect yourself)

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