Toxic people - The rot sets in.

𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.

Once, it came from one of my biggest clients.

Years ago, I had a senior client stakeholder who was abusive to my team. Even openly racist. I called it out. First to her. Then to her boss. Then to the corporate hotline. Nothing changed.

It got so bad that some of my team were going off sick. No one wanted to work on the account. Morale across the business was being dragged down by this one toxic relationship.

So we walked away.

It meant losing millions in revenue and one of our highest-profile clients.

But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Because when you tolerate that kind of behaviour, you send a clear message to your team:

“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜.”

It also corrodes the whole business. Not just those directly impacted.

Another time, the issue was closer to home. A senior exec at our holding company who said all the right things… but was quietly working to move some of our clients elsewhere.

Instead of walking away, I had the tough conversation. We sat down, named what was really going on, identified some shared objectives, and agreed some ground rules for how how we were going to work together going forward.

It completely changed the dynamic. That relationship became one of the most productive I had.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀:

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗰.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

I help a lot of my coaching clients navigate this similar challenges.

We look at the whole system — the relationships, the power dynamics, the knock-on effects on culture and morale.

We map out what’s really going on beneath the surface.

Then we rehearse the difficult conversations, so they go in clear, grounded and prepared.

It’s like stepping back from a messy chessboard.

We identify the unseen moves, pressure points, and patterns.

Then we plan the next move together.

I ask questions like:

🔹 What messages are you sending by staying silent?

🔹 What’s the cost of tolerating this — to your team, your leadership, your values?

🔹 And what would it take to shift this dynamic — or walk away with clarity and integrity?

Dealing with toxic people is hard.

But tolerating them quietly? That’s what corrodes cultures.

Real leadership means knowing the difference — and acting on it.

👉 Have you ever had to make the call to confront — or walk away from — a toxic client or stakeholder? What helped you decide?

If you’re dealing with a tricky stakeholder dynamic and want help thinking it through, I offer coaching for leaders navigating tricky situations.