HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace

Are you enduring a toxic workplace?

Toxic workplaces take all kinds of forms—whether it's a narcissist boss who belittles and bullies, colleagues who backstab and gaslight, "work friends" who drain you with endless complaining, or a culture of overwork and burnout. It can feel impossible to know whether to speak up and when to keep your head down. Do you try to address it head-on, go to HR, or play office politics? And what can you do if you don't want to leave—or if your situation doesn't allow you to?

The HBR Guide to Navigating the Toxic Workplace will help you set boundaries and change what you can while helping you maintain your mental health and your self-respect in some of the toughest situations at work. You'll learn how to: recognize what's fixable; help bring problems to light; protect your reputation and your career; prevent a toxic culture from infecting your team; keep your performance up; and move on if you choose, without burning bridges.

Arm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

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  2. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Employee Engagement

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  3. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership, Updated and Expanded (featuring "Begin with Trust" by Frances X. Frei and Anne Morriss)

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  4. The Year in Tech, 2026 : The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

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  5. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy, Updated and Expanded (featuring "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy" by Michael E. Porter)

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  6. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself, Updated and Expanded (featuring "How Will You Measure Your Life?" by Clayton M. Christensen)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Peter F. Drucker, Amy Gallo, Amy Jen Sue, Clayton M. Christensen

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  7. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Change Management, Updated and Expanded (featuring "Leading Change" by John P. Kotter)

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  8. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Managing People, Updated and Expanded (featuring "Are You a Good Boss--or a Great One?" by Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Daniel Goleman, Linda A. Hill, Tsedal Neeley, Marcus Buckingham

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  9. HBR's 10 Must Reads 2026 : The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review (featuring "The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift" by Kevin Evers)

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  10. HBR's 10 Must Reads on High Performance, Updated and Expanded (featuring "Nine Things Successful People Do Differently" by Heidi Grant)

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  11. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence, Updated and Expanded (featuring "What Makes a Leader" by Daniel Goleman)

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  12. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Mental Toughness, Updated and Expanded (featuring "How to Stop Worrying About What Other People Think of You" by Michael Gervais)

    Harvard Harvard Business Review, Michael Gervais, Angela L. Duckworth, Martin E. P. Seligman, Herminia Ibarra

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