"The day this person left our company is a national holiday!" This actual quote, from the national study of Human Mines at Work by Dr. Elizabeth Holloway and Dr. Mitchell Kusy, echoes the sentiment that employees experience when finally freed from the tyranny of a toxic person. Precisely who is a toxic person? They are those who demonstrate counterproductive work behaviors that seriously debilitate individuals, teams, and even entire organizations. The costs are substantial, both human and financial and yet, there has been very little research that leads to practical and effective intervention. Most solutions have been simply firing the person with little attention to the effect the toxicity has had on the team, the culture, and the leaders. Until now, for Kusy and Holloway’s unique “whole system” approach to the toxic personality will dramatically change CEOs approach to this debilitating problem and provide solutions for long-term inoculation against future assaults of toxicity. Kusy and Holloway are seasoned consultants who actively engage participants in translating cutting-edge research into how-to actions that will apply to their organizations.

The Systems Approach: The findings of their study of approximately 500 leaders (94% of whom indicate they either have worked or currently work with a toxic person!) challenged 9 commonly accepted myths about toxic persons and their effect on the organizational culture. They conclude that the only solution that will halt the infectious spread of toxicity is a two-pronged approach:

1. Address the system that promotes toxicity.
   • Who are the "protectors" allowing these behaviors to be tolerated?
   • Why are these behaviors just the tip of the iceberg?
   • How do your organizational values either support or stop toxicity in its tracks?
2. Intervene with the individual after the systemic components are addressed.
   • How do you give feedback to someone who is clueless they are toxic?
   • What happens if your brilliant "star" is toxic?
   • How can actions be linked in to your organization's 360-degree process?

Value to Members: Kusy and Holloway predict that members will shift their approaches in working with the toxic person via changing the system that encourages toxicity by:

1. Identifying the costs of toxicity
2. Rebuffing those who "protect" the toxic person
3. Reversing previously unsuccessful strategies
4. Rethinking actions affecting both their bottom line and their organization's "human line!"

Ignoring the toxic problem simply feeds it until the effects are felt within and beyond the corporation. One participant in their study commented on bottom line disaster that resulted:

“This person's toxic behavior and poor decisions caused the organization to drop from #1 in the industry to #3 within 2 years!”

Dr. Mitchell Kusy has had 25 years experience in leadership and organization development. A full professor and international consultant, he has also worked in the leadership trenches at such venerable organizations as American Express Financial Advisors as head of leadership development. He is now a full professor in the Ph.D. Program in Leadership & Change at Antioch University. He was a 2005 Fulbright Scholar in International Organization Development and the 1998 Minnesota Organization Development Practitioner of the Year. He has written several books with one of them—Fast Forward Leadership—being the #3 best-selling business book in April, 2000. His most recent book is Manager's Desktop Consultant: Just-in-Time Solutions to the Top People Problems that Keep You Up at Night. Based on this book, he has been interviewed by such publications as the New York Times and Fortune for his advice.

Dr. Elizabeth Holloway is a full professor and psychologist with over 25 years experience as a practitioner, trainer, and consultant in relational practice with leaders worldwide. She has held faculty appointments at the Universities of California, Utah, Oregon, Wisconsin, and currently at Antioch University. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and was one of five faculty chosen for the prestigious Leadership Fellow program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has achieved the highest practitioner distinction for psychologists—Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. She has written several books, numerous research articles, and consults internationally on systemic interventions that intersect mentoring, communities of practice, and organizational learning.