Success is a team sport. It takes the entire team, from entry level employees all the way up the ladder to the executive suite, to run the company engine on all cylinders.

The environmental factors leading to a company’s failure, on the other hand, typically flows down from the top. It is unfortunate the number of senior executives ready, willing and able to quickly assign the blame of failure squarely on employees. However, the entire workforce doesn’t show up to work and uniformly decide to screw up the company. The common scenario is that leadership begins to make decisions that begin to negatively alter the course of the organization, ultimately leading to its demise.

What are leadership actions that are potential signals the company is headed for trouble? Here are some clues your company could be headed for rough waters.

#1 - Me, Me, Me: When leadership decisions are guided by “what’s in it for me?” This is a sign leaders are less interested in the long-term viability of a company and more interested in their own personal short-term gain. If this is happening it’s like working at Titanic Inc. A good indication this is happening is when company decisions are made based on how it will affect executive compensation and their incentive payouts.

#2 - Communicate is a Four Syllable Word: When the leadership starts to communicate with employees on a “need to know” basis, start running for the exits. When employees read important company news in the newspaper rather than the company newsletter, develop an exit strategy. A lack of communication typically indicates leaders are hiding bad news, making decisions without sufficient input, or possibly courting a new buyer for the company, unaware of the financial benefits of teamwork, making a play on a new company with excessive staff levels, or simply do not like people and avoid employees at all cost.

#3 - Executive Bullies at Work Here: One time I was told by the president it was my fault there was bad Karma in the company. Funny thing I was not the one yelling, screaming and cursing at employees on a daily basis. Employees were being physically and mentally destroyed by an executive bully and I wanted to put a stop to it. As a result, I became the bad guy for trying to curtail an out-of-control executive’s behavior. Now I was considered disloyal to the company. My career was put on ice by a new supervisor where frustrating my every move was his daily goal.

#4 - Lack of Vision: When senior leadership does not make time to adequately explain the vision and mission of a company, employees will lose interest in the company and not engage in the important work of the company. Sometimes executives are afraid they will share their valuable secrets if they talk to employees about their mission, vision and values. Some executives think employees should just know this stuff without the president taking time to explain it. “If you are so smart, why do I have to explain this human resource crap to you,” is the general feeling. People perish due to a lack of vision, states the scriptures. Companies file Chapter 11 due to lack of vision.

And #5 - Who is the President? Besides the need to trust and respect their leaders, employees need to know who is running the company. I once worked at a company where the president was rarely seen walking around in the office. We would go months and months before seeing him. There is a comfort feeling knowing you have an active, engaged president who cares for employees at the helm of the ship. If the president is rarely seen and seldom walks around to visit with employees - except for maybe the Christmas Party - this could be quite unsettling to the workforce. This same president loved to meet with local charities and press gatherings but avoided his own employees. It’s like a football coach going absent from practice and the sidelines during games and only appearing in front of the team when it is time for the news conference. If you have leaders who hide in their execu-caves, the next thing missing might be your paycheck.

Before taking a position with a new company, how does one avoid a toxic company culture? Applicants are well within their rights to interview current employees to obtain honest feedback on the company culture. If you are not allowed to interview existing employees of your choice, this could be a sign your future employer is hiding a toxic workplace. For those in the job market, the following are potential clues a workplace has a noxious work environment.

• Employees are not allowed to voice their honest opinion on workplace issues.
• Employees fall in or out of leadership’s favor without explanation, and as a result, are included or excluded from company events, projects or meetings.
• Employees with opposing viewpoints are not welcomed visitors to the executive suite.
• Employees are fired without warning or explanation, nor are they given the opportunity to address the real issues leading to their departure.
• Receptionists and assistants tend to be beautiful, attractive eye-candy for chauvinistic executives.
• Overweight people are routinely urged by leadership to exercise and made to feel inferior to their slender coworkers and leaders.
• Employees are expected to assume heavier workloads and work excessive overtime while legitimate requests for headcount increases are denied, all while the company is promoting the importance of work/life balance.
• Employees with excellent reputations are abruptly fired or transferred because their performance is suddenly unsatisfactory.
• The human resources department is viewed by leadership as an administrative function or transaction facilitator rather than a partner in developing great people and work environments.
• The human resources department merely follows orders from leadership and is afraid to question company practices.
• Rude behavior is routinely allowed.
• Employees who treat people with trust and respect are considered weak and not management material.
• Tough, no-nonsense supervisory behavior is rewarded.
• Executives are assigned reserved parking spaces.
• The CEO and his/her executive team rarely walk around the office to visit with employees.
• Company information or news is not consistently shared with the entire workforce.
• Employees routinely read breaking news about their company in the local newspaper or online news services rather than from internal company publications.
• Press releases are distributed to public media outlets prior to employee distribution.
• Political views of the leaders are expressed to employees, and the employees are expected to blindly support and/or vote for those causes.
• Executives have their own restrooms.
• The company has a code of conduct policy but does not provide regular training to leaders or employees.
• Employees are expected to intuitively know what is expected from them without explanation and can be disciplined for not following these unwritten rules of conduct or performance.
• Employees who raise legitimate company issues are summarily terminated without cause.
• Executives hire C-level and professional staff outside the approved recruiting process and do not carefully consider the recruit’s management style or their potential impact on company culture.