When a Team Member Becomes Toxic: A Leadership Challenge Every DMO CEO Must Face

Destination Marketing Organizations are relationship-driven businesses. Success depends on collaboration, creativity, trust, and a shared commitment to serving visitors, stakeholders, and the community. While DMO leaders spend considerable time building external relationships, one of the most difficult leadership challenges often emerges internally: managing an employee who has become toxic to the organization.

Toxic employees can be found in organizations of every size. They may be high performers, long-term staff members, or even individuals with strong industry knowledge. What makes them toxic is not necessarily their job performance but the negative impact they have on workplace culture, morale, teamwork, and organizational effectiveness.

For a DMO President-CEO, ignoring the problem is rarely an option.

The first responsibility of leadership is to objectively identify the behavior. Toxicity can take many forms: constant negativity, gossip, undermining coworkers, resistance to change, disrespect toward colleagues, creating divisions within the team, or consistently refusing to support organizational goals. Before taking action, leaders must separate personality conflicts from genuine workplace disruption. Not every disagreement or strong opinion constitutes toxic behavior.

Once a pattern is established, the CEO must address the issue directly and promptly. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is hoping the situation will resolve itself. In reality, toxic behavior often spreads. Team members begin avoiding conflict, trust deteriorates, productivity declines, and high-performing employees may eventually leave. The longer the behavior goes unaddressed, the greater the damage to the organization's culture.

Effective intervention begins with a candid conversation. The focus should remain on observable behaviors and their impact, not on personal judgments. Employees need specific examples and clear expectations for improvement. This discussion should be documented and paired with a measurable improvement plan.

Equally important is listening. Sometimes, toxic behavior stems from unresolved frustrations, burnout, personal challenges, unclear expectations, or workplace conflicts that leadership may not fully understand. While these factors do not excuse harmful conduct, understanding the root causes can help determine whether coaching and support can lead to positive change.

DMO leaders must recognize that culture matters more than individual talent. A common leadership trap is tolerating toxic behavior because an employee has specialized skills, industry knowledge, or strong stakeholder relationships. One toxic employee can undermine an entire team's performance. Protecting organizational culture is one of the CEO's most important responsibilities.

If coaching, feedback, and corrective action fail to produce meaningful improvement, leaders must be prepared to make difficult personnel decisions. Termination should never be the first response, but it may ultimately be necessary when an employee's behavior continues to damage the organization and those around them.

The most successful DMOs are built on trust, collaboration, and a shared sense of purpose. Visitors experience the results of that culture in every interaction with the destination. While handling a toxic employee is uncomfortable, effective leaders understand that preserving a healthy workplace is not only an internal management issue—it is a strategic investment in the organization's future success.

As leaders, we often talk about destination stewardship. That stewardship begins at home, in the culture we cultivate within our organizations.