4 Ways Toxic Work Relationships Block Your Professional Growth
Toxic work relationship educational series -Part 3: How toxic work relationships impact your employee engagement & professional growth
Read time: 5 minutes.
Welcome to Words That Work, my weekly newsletter where I share actionable advice on behavior insights and communication skills, drawing on my lifelong passion for communication and human behavior.
Every article aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to master the people aspect of your job, so you can be seen, heard, and valued for your ideas, skills, and contributions.
Remember to grab your weekly Words That Work Recipe at the end of the article.
THE ABC METHOD helps you:
Recognize how toxic relationships block career growth
Apply ABC to protect your reputation, energy, and opportunities
Build resilience and keep advancing despite workplace dysfunction
4 Ways Toxic Work Relationships Block Your Professional Growth
Toxic work relationship educational series -Part 3: How toxic work relationships impact your Employee Engagement & Professional Growth
Have you ever wondered why some professionals stagnate despite being highly capable?
The answer often isn’t lack of skill or ambition—it’s toxic work relationships that block growth opportunities.
Research shows that toxic environments directly reduce employee engagement, and when engagement drops, career development halts.
For early and mid-career professionals, the risk is serious: studies indicate employees in toxic environments are 60% less likely to pursue stretch assignments and 45% less likely to seek mentoring relationships.
Today, I’ll expose 4 ways toxic work relationships block growth—and show you how the ABC Method helps you keep advancing your career.
Step 1: Awareness
Way 1: They create psychological safety issues that prevent learning and innovation.
Growth requires risk-taking and learning from mistakes—but toxic colleagues destroy the psychological safety that makes this possible.
The safety deficit shows up as:
Staying quiet in brainstorming sessions
Declining stretch assignments
Avoiding innovation to prevent mistakes from being weaponized
Focusing only on error prevention
Research: Teams with high psychological safety report 76% higher engagement and 47% higher performance.
ABC Method Application: Awareness of when fear drives choices, Behavior insight that toxic people often target creatives, and Communication with supportive colleagues to build safe environments.
Step 2: Behavior
Way 2: They monopolize mentorship opportunities and block access to senior leaders.
Career growth often depends on mentorship—but toxic colleagues gatekeep senior access.
The blocking shows up as:
Exclusion from informal networking events
Negative commentary shaping leaders’ perceptions
Missed visibility on key projects
Getting stuck with toxic managers
Research: employees without mentoring advance 20% slower and report 35% lower job satisfaction.
ABC Method Application: Recognize gatekeeping behavior, communicate directly with leaders to bypass toxic intermediaries, and use Awareness to find alternate mentorship channels.
Way 3: They sabotage your professional reputation and personal brand.
Long-term success depends on reputation—but toxic coworkers damage it through subtle reputation assassination.
It looks like:
Repeatedly bringing up old mistakes
Labeling you with negative traits
Minimizing achievements while amplifying failures
Typecasting you into limiting roles
Research: Reputation accounts for up to 40% of promotion decisions. Employees facing reputation attacks are 55% less likely to be considered for leadership roles.
ABC Method Application: Awareness of how your brand is being shaped, Behavior insight that attacks often target rising stars, and Communication to build credibility with key stakeholders directly.
Step 3: Communication
Way 4: They drain your energy and enthusiasm for development.
Toxic drama drains the energy required for growth activities.
This shows up as:
Skipping learning opportunities
Avoiding networking due to exhaustion
Declining challenging projects
Losing enthusiasm for career advancement
Research: employees in toxic workplaces are 40% less likely to pursue development and report 60% lower career satisfaction.
ABC Method Application: Awareness of when your energy is being drained, Behavior insight to separate their drama from your goals, and Communication strategies that create boundaries to preserve energy for growth.
The transformation
Toxic people don’t just make work unpleasant—they sabotage your professional development. But by applying ABC, you can keep growing despite workplace dysfunction.
Why this works: The ABC Advantage
Awareness helps you spot when fear or fatigue blocks growth
Behavior insight prevents personalization of toxic actions
Communication equips you to reclaim opportunities and energy
Your next steps
Notice when toxic dynamics make you avoid growth opportunities.
Decode whether fear, gatekeeping, or energy drain is holding you back.
Communicate boundaries or build alternate support systems to keep momentum.
Words That Work Recipe
📄 Download your weekly Words That Work Recipe: “Breaking Growth Barriers from Toxic People”
Action
Have toxic colleagues ever stalled your growth?
👉 Which of these 4 blockers have you faced most?
💬 Share your story in the comments—we learn best when we learn together.
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✍️ Until next week, keep choosing words that work. ~ River