Toxic vs. Emotionally Intelligent Leaders: 7 Red Flags and 7 Green Flags

Why? Employees thrive under leaders who empower, listen, and lead with integrity and empathy. Empathy in action is more than a leadership trait, it’s a culture-building strategy. By fostering trust, leading with purpose, and supporting wellness proactively, leaders create workplaces where mental health is not just protected, but prioritized. And when leaders lead with empathy, they don’t just build teams—they build trust and resilience. The result is organizations that uplift everyone to share in success.

Conversely, toxic leadership erodes morale, stifles creativity, and drives disengagement. Let’s break down the seven red flags that signal toxic leadership — and the seven green flags that reveal emotionally intelligent leaders worth following.

7 Red Flags of Toxic Leadership

1. Micromanages Constantly: Micromanagement signals a lack of trust and confidence in the team. It creates a culture of dependency, where employees feel they can’t make decisions or take initiative. Over time, this erodes creativity, motivation, and ownership.
2. Avoids Accountability: Leaders who deflect blame and refuse to own their mistakes foster a toxic blame culture. This discourages risk-taking and transparency, and it teaches teams that honesty is punished rather than valued.
3. Lacks Empathy: A lack of empathy shows up in dismissive attitudes toward personal struggles, mental health, or emotional distress. These leaders often miss the human element of work, leading to disengagement and burnout.
4. Plays Favorites: Favoritism undermines fairness and equity. It creates cliques, divides teams, and causes talented individuals to feel overlooked or undervalued—often prompting them to disengage or leave.
5. Dismisses Feedback: Leaders who shut down feedback send a clear message: “Your voice doesn’t matter.” This stifles innovation, discourages collaboration, and creates a culture of silence where problems go unaddressed.
6. Communicates Poorly: Poor communication - whether it's inconsistent messaging, lack of clarity, or failure to listen - leads to confusion, misalignment, and frustration. It also signals a lack of respect for others’ time and contributions.
7. Operates with Ego: Ego-driven leaders prioritize their own image, status, or control over team success. They often take credit for others’ work, resist collaboration, and make decisions based on self-interest rather than collective good.

7 Green Flags of Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

1. Demonstrates Humility: Humble leaders admit when they’re wrong, seek input, and recognize the value others bring. This creates a culture of mutual respect and psychological safety, where learning and growth are encouraged.
2. Exceeds Expectations: These leaders consistently show up with integrity, care, and excellence. They model the behavior they expect from others and inspire teams to go the extra mile, not out of obligation, but out of shared purpose.
3. Works Proud: Pride in the mission translates into meaningful work. Leaders who are proud of what they do, and why they do it, infuse energy and purpose into their teams, creating a sense of belonging and motivation.
4. Lives Proactively: Proactive leaders anticipate challenges, plan ahead, and take initiative. They don’t wait for problems to escalate, they address them early, creating a stable and forward-thinking environment.
5. Builds Trust: Trust-building leaders are transparent, consistent, and emotionally available. They create safe spaces for vulnerability, encourage open dialogue, and follow through on commitments.
6. Strives to Improve: Growth-oriented leaders embrace feedback, seek learning opportunities, and model adaptability. They show that improvement is a journey, not a destination, and they invite others to grow alongside them.
7. Empowers Others: Empowering leaders delegate meaningfully, celebrate wins, and encourage autonomy. They trust their teams to lead, innovate, and take ownership—creating a culture of confidence and collaboration.

Why This Matters: Humanity At Work

Leadership today is not just about managing tasks—it’s about leading people. The most impactful leaders understand that emotional intelligence is not optional; it’s essential. It’s the foundation of trust, connection, and resilience.

Humanity as a strategy means leading with empathy, humility, and intention. It’s about recognizing that every employee is a whole person, not just a role or a resource. When leaders prioritize psychological safety, emotional well-being, and inclusive culture, they unlock the full potential of their teams.

In contrast, toxic leadership creates environments of fear, confusion, and disconnection. The difference between a toxic boss and a transformational leader lies in their ability to lead with heart, listen with intention, and act with integrity. 

So, in honor of National Boss Day—or maybe in spite of it—let’s commit to building workplace cultures that value retention, support innovation, and praise performance. Above all, let’s deliver emotionally intelligent leadership so that everyone can experience a work environment that is brilliantly and abundantly human.