# T o x i c – F r e e
By Sgt. Nicholas N.
Before I get into what leadership is and how it pertains to my job, I feel it would be appropriate to first explain what I believe a leader is. Not only in the sense of a leader in the Army either, for I believe that there is a balance in the universe of two different types of people. One who leads, lets call this person a “leader,” leads those who follow, lets call these people “followers.” Without this balance, not much would get done, now would there? Is it safe to say that what a leader does is get results? Not always the results they intended but results, nonetheless. This is where I segue into what constitutes a toxic leader. If the baseline for a leader is to get results period, then the criteria for a toxic leader would have to be that of a leader who gets no results. Now I know what you’re thinking, how can a leader get no results? Well let me clarify this matter for you. This is achieved by not doing a damn thing. Not putting effort into their task at hand and/or taking any sort of responsibility. This is common, not only in the Army but also in the general populace of America. It’s a shame. I cannot spit in the quad without hitting a toxic leader. But I digress. As I stray back to the focal point of our topic, I must restate my current position on what a leader is. A leader gets results. A toxic leader gets nothing. For example, if a leader sees something that needs correcting like being late to a morning formation timeline, that leader will take steps to correct it and get results. A toxic leader will stand idly by, taking no action. Which comes full circle to the actual leader who now must make another correction with the toxic leader not getting results. This is why we have what we in the Army call the Chain “O” Command. This caste system creates concentric levels of leaders who must monitor other subordinate leaders so on and so forth until you hit the bottom of the totem pole...