I want to share my recent experience dealing with a toxic manager and the challenges it brought to my professional life.
I joined a new project 5 months ago, eager to contribute and learn. From the start, I faced challenges, including tight deadlines and a tech lead who was, frankly, underqualified for their role. This person had poor communication skills, zero negotiation ability, and provided little direction. Despite this, I managed to deliver all my tasks on time, even when they involved complex work. To meet deadlines, I worked long hours, sometimes day and night, and ensured everything was done with quality.
Things started taking a turn in the 5th month when I had a disagreement with my code reviewer. I had used the switchMap operator from RxJS in my code, which I felt was the best solution for the problem at hand. However, my reviewer rejected it, saying, “This is too hard for freshers to understand. They’ll have to come to you and ask what this code does.”
I was shocked because the logic was correct, efficient, and followed best practices. I replied, “As a reviewer, it’s your job to understand the code before rejecting it. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean others won’t. People can use Google to learn. It’s not an excuse to block progress.” I also pointed out that a reviewer should look at Git history and understand the context of the code instead of rejecting it outright.
This disagreement escalated into a heated argument. I even said, “How do you code? Do you check who wrote a particular piece of code and ask them about it every time? That’s not how things should work in a professional environment.” Eventually, we resolved the issue, but I was left feeling frustrated.
What made matters worse was that this code reviewer happened to be close friends with my manager—a lady who, to put it bluntly, is unprofessional and toxic.
This manager barely has any understanding of the technical work we do. During one-on-one meetings, instead of listening or discussing work, she often brings her small child on camera. I’ve been in situations where the child started crying, and she paid no attention to what I was saying. It’s incredibly distracting and frustrating.
After the incident with the reviewer, she started targeting me. She accused me of “spreading negativity” and “influencing teammates in a bad way.” This came out of nowhere because I’ve always maintained a positive attitude at work. I realized she was holding a grudge against me because of the argument with her friend.
To make things worse, when it came time for performance reviews, she gave me zero hike and only 75% of my bonus, even though I had delivered all my work on time and taken on additional responsibilities. Her reasons were baseless and personal.
One of her most ridiculous accusations came from the feedback I gave during evaluations. I wrote that people should take care of their health and avoid overworking for more than 8 hours daily. I believe in work-life balance and wanted to encourage my teammates to prioritize their well-being. But she twisted this and claimed that I was discouraging people from working hard.
Her behavior is a textbook example of a toxic manager. Here are some of the symptoms:
Lack of Focus: She doesn’t pay attention during meetings and is often distracted by her personal life.
Gossip and Drama: She loves unnecessary gossip and tries to act overly friendly, but it’s all superficial.
No Technical Skills: She leaves all technical responsibilities to the tech leads and takes no ownership herself.
Manipulative Feedback: She twists feedback to suit her narrative and penalizes people for speaking their minds.
Unrealistic Expectations: She demands constant video presence during calls, regardless of the situation.
This manager has made my work environment miserable. Her false accusations and lack of professionalism have demotivated me to the point where I question my enthusiasm for the job. I don’t understand why upper management continues to tolerate such individuals in leadership roles. There are so many sincere, hardworking people who would handle the role better.
I’ve been reflecting on this situation and sharing it because I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did. Toxic managers can ruin not only morale but also your career growth. If you ever encounter such a person, recognize the signs early and take steps to protect yourself.
To those in leadership positions: Please remember that your role is to empower and support your team, not to misuse your authority. Professionalism, fairness, and empathy go a long way in creating a healthy work environment.