Prelims

Half Title Page

Toxic Humans

Endorsements

Michael Jenkins' Toxic Humans is a valuable contribution to the discourse on how to work towards more human and more effective organisations. It encourages reflection and suggests concrete ways to address dysfunctionality and toxic behaviour in organisations and to build cultures of trust and psychological safety - which is of increasing relevance given the world we live and work in.

—Aarti Kelshikar, Author of How Women Work: Fitting in and Standing Out in Asia

A timely wake up call for global boards and senior management to level up the leadership playing field. Brilliant management book on how to detox leadership and create better workplaces. Highly recommended insights by the leading global expert Michael Jenkins.

—Martin Roll, Business and Board Advisor, Global Family Business and Family Office Expert, Business School Educator

In Toxic Humans Michael Jenkins has laid bare some of the dysfunctional behaviour of leaders, past and present. He gives numerous examples of people who cause toxicity in the Boards and organisations they lead and uses his extensive experience to illustrate the different aspects of such toxicity. By analysing the evidence from a wide array of sources he has helped to explain how some CEOs have been able to get away with objectionable management styles for many years. He also has many practical suggestions for dealing with the difficult boss.

This book should be read by Board Members, whose role is critical in preventing an organisation from going toxic. It is also fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in leadership and how some people occupy positions of power despite their poor interpersonal skills. It answers the question “What is a Toxic Human?”, and does a thorough job of analysing the impact on others or “So What?”. Finally it proposes ways of minimising the damage caused by toxic leaders and readers who ask, “Now What?” will not be disappointed.

—Peter Thomson, Partner, FutureWork Forum

Work can be inspiring and productive, but when toxic humans are involved everybody loses – even the toxic boss or colleague. Michael Jenkins has done us a service with this thoughtful and detailed analysis of toxic personalities, how they reveal themselves – and what we might be able to do about them. Buy a copy for the toxic human in your life!

—Stefan Stern, former FT management columnist and Visiting Professor in management practice at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London

Title Page

Toxic Humans

Combatting Poisonous Leadership in Boards and Organisations

BY

Michael Jenkins

Expert Humans Pte Ltd, Singapore

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Copyright © 2024 Michael Jenkins.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: www.copyright.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83753-977-2 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-974-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-976-5 (Epub)

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my grandson Henry, a source of great joy for our family.

List of Figures and Tables

About the Author

Michael Jenkins was born, and spent his early years, in Malaysia. He graduated from Durham University in Chinese Studies followed by postgraduate studies in Japanese language, politics and economics at Nanzan University, Japan (supported by a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation for International Understanding) after which he worked for Toyota Motor Corporation for four years as a motor analyst in the Overseas Planning Department.

Returning to the United Kingdom in 1988, Michael worked at the University of Bath as the Director of the Foreign Languages Centre where he established and taught on the United Kingdom's first PG Diploma in Japanese/English/Japanese Interpreting and Translation. In 2001, after two years with INSEAD in France as Regional Director, Japan and Korea, Michael returned to Asia as Director of INSEAD Executive Education in Singapore. He subsequently took on the role of Managing Director of the Center for Creative Leadership Asia-Pacific and in 2009 he joined Roffey Park Institute in the United Kingdom as CEO. Moving back to Singapore, Michael joined the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) as CEO in July 2018 before moving to set up a new company, Expert Humans in April 2020. In July 2020, he joined the UK-based FutureWork Forum (which explores the working world of tomorrow) as a Partner.

The United Kingdom's HR Magazine named Michael as one of the United Kingdom's Most Influential Thinkers in Human Resources in 2013 and again in 2016. In 2023, Michael was included as one of the top three HR Influencers in Southeast Asia by ETHRWorld Southeast Asia's HR Influencers annual listing. Michael is a regular contributor at conferences in Singapore and abroad where he specialises in topics such as humanising the workplace, new thinking in leadership development, the Future of Work and sustainability.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and support of my Partner colleagues at the FutureWork Forum during the writing of Toxic Humans. I would also like to thank the VAB (Virtual Advisory Board) for giving me the chance to explore ideas with its members and for their generous and insightful feedback.

My sincere thanks to Helle Bank Jørgensen, John Barker and Sandra Guerra, for sharing their insights with me about people dynamics in a Board context together with Phaik Ai Choo and Shruti Swaroop, who shared their reflections on people interactions in organisations more broadly. Thank you to Alison Miles, David Fernández Esquivel, Dirk Verbruggen, Gareth Bibby, Jacques Schayes, Jill Davidson, Dr Kiran Chitta, Markus Keiper, Dr Robyn Wilson, Rudi Plettinx and Simon Miles for their kindness and generosity during the writing of this book.

In addition, I am truly indebted to the many brave people who shared their stories of toxicity in Boards and organisations with me: I am also immensely grateful to the many friends and colleagues who volunteered their valuable insights and comments.

I would especially like to thank my wife Joyce Jenkins for the many conversations and her thoughtful insights that helped shape the book. My heartfelt thanks also go to my daughter Maia, son Nat and sister Anna for their support and encouragement.

Thank you.