Missed An Important Toxic Character!
You neglected the most damaging scenario of all - when the supervisor/manager IS the toxic character. Been there, done that... Had a work situation where the individuals "management style" consisted entirely of bellowing, bullying, intimidating, and blatantly playing favorites, made all the more "effective" by the fact the guy was 6'+ and over 250 lbs. A lot of people were genuinely afraid of this jackass, including some of his superiors; he loved it and used it to his maximum advantage. I left, not because his tactics worked on me but because I was tired of his B.S. and the failure of higher-ups who were well aware of the situation and did nothing about it. The company's since been taken over by HP and, last I heard, he was still there and still doing the same act.
