Yes, I’ve experienced an extremely toxic work environment at a relatively small, family-owned business with about 200 employees. Ironically, the first three years were great — I felt respected, well-compensated, and had a healthy work-life balance.
Then the founder and CEO stepped down, handing control to his son. Things turned toxic almost immediately. I won’t bore you with the details, but I walked away with a few hard-earned lessons.
- You can go from being labeled a top performer to persona non grata in a matter of months — all depending on the whims of a new boss.
- Sometimes it’s less about what you’ve accomplished and more about who can best mirror the new boss’s style and ego.
- HR in small, family-owned companies is often powerless, and the owners aren’t bound by meaningful policies or accountability structures.
- It’s always wise to maintain strong connections within your industry — with former employers, colleagues, and peers. Those relationships can be lifelines.
- And never feel guilty about taking side gigs. They can be a solid backup if things go south. As long as you’re fulfilling your responsibilities at your main job and not competing with it, what you do outside of work is your business.
In the end, things got really bad. But I mostly realize it wasn’t about me — it was about the instability of working under someone handed control of a company solely because his last name matched the founder’s.
Many talented people were driven out or let go. One person on my team had worked there since 2001 and was labeled “essential” during the pandemic — only to be let go once the new boss took over.
Even the COO, a smart and highly competent leader with prior experience at a publicly traded company, was let go after eight years. Running a small company was well within his wheelhouse, but competence wasn’t what the new leadership valued.
Candidly, it still stings to think about how quickly a good situation can unravel with little explanation. I’d never experienced anything like that before — and hopefully never will again. But if I do, at least I have a few lessons I can reflect on.
