Toxic Boss or Toxic Workplace? What’s more Detrimental and Deleterious?

The Perpetual Misery of Working for a Toxic Boss:

A toxic boss is a vexing problem that is with you every day and will affect your career (and happiness) directly.  A toxic boss (mostly he, we guess) will make your life miserable on a daily basis, pile on more work, take credit, and thwart your chances of advancement.

The stress and strain of daily torture will eat you and affect your mental balance, sleep, and indeed the quality of life.  While the job may put food on the table, the question whether you are even enjoying that food?

It is certain that a toxic boss will make you feel you don’t belong and each day you will hope will be the last day. We understand the pain and suffering of a toxic boss.

And let’s assume this boss is an anomaly in a rather an excellent organization. A black sheep that got through. A monster amidst a lot of other saintly folks.

Do you quit? Or do you say until you have put in enough time to ask for a transfer to another part of the company?  Typically, in large organizations, no one works in the same place or under the same boss for more than a couple of years.  So, do you bid your time building alliances across the rest of the firm in anticipation of your next phase?

Or do you quit as bearing the brunt of daily torture is beyond you?

The Pervasiveness of a Toxic Workplace:

Now comes the 64 million dollar question.  So, do you instead have a good boss in a toxic workplace?

A toxic workplace is a wasteland of bad behavior and rotten culture.

Can you bear the toxic workplace if you had a good boss who may be able to shield some of the adverse effects? Would he/she be able to provide that shelter? While your boss may be supportive given the toxicity, can you achieve your career goals and live a sane life?

Will the little cocoon built around you by your boss to shield you and your colleagues sufficient to overcome the environmental toxicity?

And what happens when in a couple of years, he/she moves on to greener pastures or a new assignment. What will then happen to you? Can you survive the ocean of negativity?

Of course, ideally, we want to work for a good boss in a good company. But if you were to choose what you would do? Toxic boss? Toxic company? Or neither? Please share your thoughts.