Keeping a toxic employee is a short-term financial gain that leads to long-term failure. That person will inevitably cap growth or cause a collapse. Leaders must constantly recruit their replacement or identify capable subordinates that the toxic employee is suppressing.
Empathy can be learned and improved, but it's not infinitely malleable. Like athletic ability, individuals have natural dispositions and ceilings shaped by DNA and upbringing. Leaders should focus on incremental improvement rather than expecting a complete personality overhaul.
Company culture isn't built on mission statements but on the leader's authentic intent. If a leader is driven by selfish needs to "close the gap of their insecurities," that will become the true culture, regardless of official rhetoric. The core test is whether a leader genuinely cares for their people.
A CEO with good intentions can still foster a poor culture by tolerating a toxic senior leader. They keep this high-performer for their P&L impact, allowing "cancer" to spread. The CEO must remove them, even if it's painful financially in the short term.
The negative impact from a toxic high-performer isn't a slow burn; it's a hidden liability. A business can appear successful for years before a sudden, catastrophic failure when a few key employees finally quit, causing the entire structure to fall apart.