Meet the new boss. Garner their trust like the old boss

When the message you're imparting to your boss or your team is met with silence, inaction or an unadvised action, your choice is between "more frustration or ... better collaboration," leadership experts Karin Hurt and David Dye write. "You still have an opportunity (and responsibility) to say something ... ask questions, understand the goals, and help your leaders understand the realities confronting your team," Hurt and Dye explain.

Put it into practice: Make sure your boss is aware of the trade-offs their decision creates and suggest solutions. If your team isn't getting the message you're imparting, ensure they have the training, encouragement and accountability they need -- and provide "the rich texture of 'why,'" Hurt and Dye say.

Jochen Reiser, president of the University of Texas Medical Branch, encourages leaders to validate their assumptions and ask difficult questions so they can "dare to act." "I have found in my career, acting upon information in a good moment and being a little bit opportunistic, is better than holding it out, and sort of like being overly cautious," Reiser says.

When Sesame Street's Cookie Monster devours his favorite treat, what he's eating is more like a dog treat than a human-grade cookie. Puppet wrangler Lara MacLean has been baking the cookies since the early 2000s by combining coffee, pancake mix, Grape-Nuts, puffed rice and water, topping them off with colored glue for the chocolate chips. Before then, foam and rice crackers were used, but they would get matted in Cookie's fur.

You've been lucky if you haven't worked for a toxic boss. I've had a few in the past, and S. Chris Edmonds is right on the money about their traits -- disrespectful, non-inclusive, unethical, cutthroat and abusive.

Such leaders can be found at every level in an organization. All they need to flourish is a little bit of power -- and if they're making a profit for the company, it's harder to get rid of them. However, leaders who value a non-toxic culture will do all they can to create one, including showing such managers the door, modeling the behavior they want and rewarding their direct reports who follow their lead.

How have you dealt with toxic bosses or direct reports? Let me know!

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