1.
Do YOU have a Toxic Boss?
Rex Gatto Ph.D., BCC
Do YOU have a Toxic Boss?
Developing and sustaining effective employees is the job of every boss, those who do what is in
the best interest of the organization, is critical to that organization’s success. Bosses, who coach
and mentor employees to grow and learn are essential to the workplace. Bosses need to be aware
of employee skill sets and abilities, and be able to differentiate employee performance into three
categories:
• High potential employees
• Moderate performing employees
• Why was this person hired?
Furthermore, the boss needs to establish developmental goals and action plan to clearly identify
behavioral change through the developmental process. Jack Welch, retired CEO of GE, when
asked what is the main job of a manager he responded, to differentiate talent.
Let’s compare Toxic Bosses with Nutrient Bosses.
Toxic Bosses:
• Don’t recognize employees for contribution
• Micromanage employees and take credit
• Avoid change and innovation
• Don’t hire, promote or develop the right people

2.
• Don’t listen, say things in meetings that cause confusion
• Don’t support their direct report
• Don’t communicate clearly and with transparency
• Are not consistent (what mood is s/he in today?)
• Don’t make timely decisions or change their minds
• Wait too long to remove personnel problems
• Wait too long to promote the right people (personal bias)
Toxic Bosses waste time, demoralize employees and are a catalyst for talent walking out the
door. People join organizations and leave bosses.
Nutrient Bosses are able to differentiate talent and give supportive and developmental feedback
to help employees grow.
Nutrient Bosses:
• Give continual feedback
• Recognize employees for their contributions for success
• Establishes clear performance expectations
• Create performance consistency by using a common descriptive performance language
• Discuss, support, and coach employees to sustain or develop work performance
(behaviors)
• Outline employee strengths and talents with enhancements through self-assessment and
boss observation/assessment
Utilizing the above points to support employees will create consistency within the organization.
Helping employees become role models for appropriately receiving feedback and demonstrating
how to effectively utilize feedback is the job of the boss.
Following are six key points of measurement to identify Nutrient Boss’ actions and priorities:
people issues, work issues, teamwork, leadership, goal achievement, and peer feedback to
enhance performance.
Understanding these six dimensions will create a benchmark of performance for your
organization. The best way to avoid creating toxic bosses, those focused on themselves and not
the organization, is to stop promoting toxic managers who are great technicians but lack the
ability of working at a true manager or executive level. The six-dimensional process creates a
mechanism for candid feedback that can support employee effectiveness within the organization
and create a level of skill needed to accomplish individual responsibilities, departmental goals,
and supports organization wide goals.
Nutrient bosses who implement a reward process for successful employee performance
effectively establish the behavior patterns needed to sustain the organization now and in the
future. A Nutrient Boss’ focus needs to be in the best interest of the organization while
individually developing the work-related and people-related skills to ensure the health of the
organization. If Nutrient Bosses are successful at doing this, they will become role models for

3.
employees, while setting a successful level of executive/manager performance. The question for
you to ask is “are we as an organization selling products and or services or sustaining and
building a business?” You build a business by developing the right employees who will sustain
the future of your organization. To sustain the future of the organization Nutrient Bosses
continually are focused on giving employees feedback that will feed the future.
Employee feedback creates a common language for development by identifying the level of
functional performance that creates consistency throughout your organization. Identifying the
right employee actions creates organization consistency through a process that supports
employee recognition and compensation.
Six types of performance feedback:
Evaluation- measuring the worth of performance
Interpretive-reviewing performance with expectation
Strengths – keep performing in that manner
Development – learning and enhancing performance
Probing- asking and guiding employee performance
Understanding- knowing intent, thoughts, and direction
When giving feedback bosses need to know the types of feedback and if they are evaluating
(evaluating or interpreting) or coaching (strengths, development, probing and understanding) or
both.
Motivation being an outcome from performance feedback can differ based on the type of
feedback given.
The problem; managers think if I am giving feedback, it is an evaluation!
Employees respond differently to the type of feedback and may also be motivated based on the
relationship between the boss and employee. Nutrient bosses have always known this!
The key to giving performance feedback really has little to do with the document, tools or
format it is the rapport that the Nutrient Boss has developed with the employee.
A Big questions: Does the employee realize in his/her heart that the boss has their best interest
in mind while giving performance feedback?
Nutrient Boss = yes
Toxic Boss = NO

4.
The really BIG problem is tying feedback to money during the same meeting. That is an issue
for another BLOG
Do you have a Toxic or Nutrient Boss?
GOT A TOXIC BOSS? WHAT YOU SHOULD DO?
Rex Gatto Ph.D., BCC
President
Gatto Associates LLC.
412 344-2277 (Office)
www.rexgatto.com
rex@rexgatto.com