A book review by Dave Whittington
Over the summer I’ve been reading Roy Lubit’s book
Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates ... and
other difficult people. After reading Peter
Frost’s Toxic Emotions at Work last year, I
was wondering what new ground Roy Lubit would cover.
In fact Dr Lubit takes a whole different approach.
While Peter Frost concerns himself with how to cope
with toxicity in the workplace and the role of toxin
handlers, Roy Lubit, who combines backgrounds in
management consulting and psychiatry, carefully
unpicks the root cause of inappropriate behaviour in
toxic colleagues.
Dr Lubit blends case studies, explanations of the
causes of toxic behaviour, and strategies for coping
with the difficult situations that arise from toxic
behaviour. I found the book engaging, easy to
follow, and I was surprised by how often I was
thinking to myself ... “ah, so that explains why so
and so does such and such”. Various types of
aggressive, bullying and controlling behaviours are
described and many of them I recognized. The chapter
I found most disturbing was chapter 9 which looked
at Homicidal Managers ... I hope no one ever has to
deal with someone like this!
Overall I found Lubit’s book fascinating and it gave
me a whole different perspective on the root cause
of toxic behaviour. His coping strategies I’ve
already begun to work with and have found them
useful when working with colleagues who are dealing
with toxicity in the workplace. If you work in a
complex organization and, from time to time, have to
deal with colleagues’ inappropriate behaviour, then
you should read this book.
welcomes you to the Muse, our monthly email
newsletter.
An archive of the Muse is kept in the 
