After a full day, you’re tired and it’s time for sleep, but you know you’ll lay there bug-eyed, or roll around until you finally knock out. Your mind is busy wondering how to survive a toxic workplace. But, now it’s time to sleep. Rather than settle in, you grab a book or worse yet, a mobile device and go online. Without notice, you’ve fallen asleep and wake up with the book or device laying on your chest. You finally turn off the light and sleep until… the last hour when your mind gets busy with broken sleep until the alarm sounds.
You relive yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that all over again. After a trip to the bathroom and a shower, you are awake. Then, the mental chatter starts. You replay the same scenario from yesterday and the day before about work. You recycle the same conversations along with some clever zingers you’d like to toss at someone. The same make-believe talk floats to the surface. Instead of focusing on the good in your life, or future goals, your mind is drug back to that place, the place that angers you, the place that disappoints you, the place where you don’t feel safe… the toxic workplace.
Let’s Hope This is Not You
It’s my hope the scenario above is not your reality. In the early 60s, a toxic workplace existed because of poor handling and safety guidelines associated with carcinogenic materials near employees. Two decades later, the “toxic” term expanded to unhealthy environments because of misbehavior toward the workforce. Forty years later, here we are, still dealing with misbehavior toward employees. Instead of your days being fulfilled, you are drawn back to the mental place of wondering how to survive a toxic workplace.
Throughout our careers, we spend more time at work, or commuting than spending time with friends or family. There’s a saying that “We become like those we hang out with.” If that’s true, then we attached work stressors on top of our own. That means those close to you are not seeing the best of you. Conversely, if you’re fortunate and enjoy your workplace and people treat you kindly with respect, you CAN be your best for yourself and those you care about.
Some Options
What if you want to be your best, but still need help to get there? As a Certified Leadership, success and stress coach, and Board Certified Hypnotherapist, I can help you build your confidence, strengthen your resilience and neutralize fearful times of your past. This work is done from the comfort of your own home. Will that change the unruly boss? No, but it can strengthen your armor to outlive them in the workplace.
Another option could be to find another job. In today’s environment, companies are desperately looking for good people wanting to make a difference. Let me remind you: There are fire ants in just about any yard if you look hard enough for them. Running to another yard because it appears to have greener grass may not always pay off.
A third option is to do nothing and hope life will get better. Poor management could eventually leave. Consider your organization, if they left, what kind of managers have they hired before? Good quality leaders from with offering opportunity, or people that look just like the existing managers? If staying is an option, what is the cost to you and those you care about?
An Anonymous Survey
The Center for Personal Leadership and Development recognizes there are challenges amid the current workforce in many employment sectors. Ideally, the behavioral pendulum should swing toward the healthy, respectful examples. We hope to capture the good and identify what works. We also want to capture the management missteps to find solutions for a better workforce.
We have created a short ANONYMOUS survey to uncover the right, the wrong and get your perspectives on solutions that can make employment life better. One question asks to rate an organization from very satisfied to extremely toxic. This question will not define the organization but shows the perspectives of the survey participant. To understand the way a person feels within an organization gives a view of the climate, culture, and health.
Participation in the survey is a key step forward. Each employee experienced good, and not-so-good in their organization. We are looking for the challenges and solutions that can make a difference. You are closer than an outsider looking in. YOU are the expert.
If you’d like a personalized assessment with an unbiased view of your organization, reach out to me via the Contact Page. We can find solutions to move forward together.
How Can You Make the Most Impact Now?
Complete the short anonymous survey at:
https://www.leadership-matters.org/resolving-the-workplace-project/
