What if you know that your colleagues want you out?? Do you pack your belongings and head out the door, or do you turn and fight? Whether you are in a position of power, or just trying to work your way up the ladder, you are not alone, 40-50% of us find ourselves in a toxic work environment.
Toxic Workplace
The truth of the matter is a ‘toxic workplace’ is as common as a cold in winter. In the beginning the symptoms may be mild, but if left untreated, the symptoms quickly get worse and spread infecting everyone in your path. Unfortunately, that includes the people nearest and dearest to you.
So how exactly do we extract ourselves from this toxic cycle and find purpose and balance in our lives? We do after all, spend more than 50% of our days in the workspace.
Being able to identify, recognize and understand WHY your company is in a constant state of turmoil is vital. As social creatures, being accepted and respected by our peers is incredibly important. Sadly, the problem goes much deeper than that.
The desire and need for power and to be in charge has been part of our society since the beginning of time. Although duelling with guns is no longer the excepted way to solve our differences, we are now fighting with manipulation and damaging our rivals’ reputations to get ahead. Looking for and identifying “weaknesses” in our colleagues has unfortunately become commonplace to further our stance in a company.
The most common type of systemic harassment is sadly as old as the hills. Racism, sexism, ageism and of course classism. By default, if you are a white man in the corporate sphere, you are more likely to be positioned at the top of the ladder. No matter how hard we try to rebuke this, even in the “modern” era, this is an undeniable fact.
There may be a “token” Uncle Tom in a somewhat diminished position of power, but he sure as heck won’t part with his precious power to uplift others. He knows his power can be snatched away from him at any point and time if he isn’t brilliant at playing Monopoly.
In Wikipedia, the term monopoly is defined, according to Sir Edward Coke, as “allowance by the king to any person or corporate for the sole buying, selling, making, working or using anything, whereby any person or corporate are sought to be restrained of any freedom or liberty that they had before “
So how can we succeed and rise to a position of power (fulfilment) if we don’t fit into this demographic? To begin with, we need to believe in ourselves and know our worth. Without that self-knowledge, we can’t expect anyone else see our potential. Good old fashion hard work and pride in our work seems to be a novelty these days. People seem to do as little as humanly possible. Finding passion in our work not only fulfils our souls, but it also makes us stand out. In order to progress, we must shine!!!
When we find ourselves constantly in the line of fire, we must speak up. The situation won’t simply go away because we pretend that it’s not happening. The longer we avoid dealing with it, the more it festers. Something that in reality is not a big deal suddenly becomes overwhelming. When taking your grievances to the “boss”, make sure you have documented EVERYTHING!
When we are upset, we tend to forget very important points and details that need to be addressed; hence, preventing us from getting to the root of the problem. Unfortunately, some problems may be too serious for you to handle on your own. If you’re genuinely fearful or simply feeling in over your head, include a third party.
If all else fails, update your LinkedIn profile, because you deserve better!!!
