12. There is an entitlement mentality among the leaders and staff
When the leadership and staff of an organization have a “what’s in it for me” mentality—the organization is in big trouble.
This entitlement mentality spreads, then instead of a culture of servant leadership you have a culture of obtaining a title in the organization primarily, so you can enjoy the fringe benefits.
13. There is much activity without measurable goals and profitability
When an organization has much activity without measurable goals, then it’s difficult to define success and failure. In a church like this, nobody has to exercise their faith in God to accomplish their mission and assignment. Consequently, it is an organization that is on auto pilot or like an aimless ship at sea in the night. This causes much frustration, lethargy among the staff, and eventually creates a toxic environment.
14. There is blame shifting and a lack of taking responsibility
In any organization that doesn’t have clear lines of communication, leadership structure, and accountability, it is easy for them to have a culture of blame-shifting. Since blame-shifting generates animosity among the staff (and irresponsibility from the ones blaming others) you have a toxic culture that needs to be cleaned up systemically.
15. The participants do the minimum amount of work required
I have observed in many organizations, leaders, and staff who just do the minimum work required to keep their position. They clock in and clock out and don’t care to do above and beyond the general job description. This generates a very bad environment if it is not dealt with and results in resentment from other staff members carrying most of the weight.
16. There is a dearth of volunteers
When it is hard for a nonprofit to garner volunteers it may demonstrate that there is a disconnect with the vision, the morale is low, or the people are not committed to the mission. This lack of motivation creates an apathy which is toxic for the culture of the entity.
17. The boss regularly ignores the protocols
Every efficient organization needs to have protocols in place related to communication, accountability, layers of leadership and responsibility so that participants know the when, where, and who to report to. When the top leader continually violates these processes put in place he or she acts like they are above the law and become bad role models for other leaders who will also replicate their disregard for protocols and order.
18. The boss regularly bypasses the leadership structure set up
When the top leader allows people to report directly to him or her – (thus bypassing the delegated leadership structure) it creates confusion, favoritism, and disrespect towards those bypassed.
The result is resentment among those bypassed, a sense of entitlement and favoritism among those with direct access to the boss-resulting in a toxic environment that can only be fixed if the senior leader leads the way by ceasing to violate the hierarchical leadership structure.
19. Creativity and innovation is discouraged
Healthy organizations encourage creative thinking, innovation, a certain level of risk taking, and cutting-edge methodologies to support and advance the mission.
When an organization is more concerned with protecting the status quo – the result is group think – a lack of creativity, and a uniformity lacking a healthy dose of critical thinking which eventually leads to the dulling and ineffectiveness of the organization.
20. There is no long-term planning
The old popular adage “when you fail to plan you plan to fail” is a proven truism! An organization constantly given to last minute events (barring an unexpected crisis or emergency) or a lack of long term planning (every organization should at least execute an annual planning meeting for future events directed towards advancing the assignment) is an organization without a spirit of excellence or proper focus.
The result will be many opportunities to maximize the gifts, talents, and resources of the organization will be missed, which will frustrate many and hurt the morale of many.
