How To Survive And Thrive In Toxic Work Environments
Introduction
Most people have had times when they have worked in a toxic environment and this experience can increase work related stress and illness significantly. In addition, toxic environments are counter productive to high performance and innovation. If you find yourself in a toxic environment due to narcissistic leadership, backbiting, or negative forms of communication, there are actions that you can take to ensure that you are not contributing to the problem but rather modeling the change you want to see and even contribute to improving the culture. (For the video related to this blog click here).
You Can Opt Out (& Sometimes You Should!)
It amazes me just how much we as people can tolerate and put up with when we have choices. If you are in an environment that is toxic for your mental, emotional or even physical well being you can find somewhere else to work. You have choices. We all do. Some working conditions such as tolerating abuse, harassment or bullying is NOT something you should tolerate or a place to work on improving the environment. The best choice is to report the destructive behavior and find another job. You can check out my previous blog for more details on How To Know When It’s Time To Quit Your Job. While you work on your exit strategy, stop by this post to understand How to Interview For A Job Confidently, so that you will be sure to land the role you desire!
If for whatever reason you decide that it is worth it to remain in the organization and work through the challenges that you are facing, here are a few tips that can help you influence the work environment for the better, even if it is just the small area of influence that you have direct control over or ability to immediately impact.
1. Be A Force For Good
The introduction was extremely important to establish that we have the power of choice over most situations in our lives. When we don’t recognize the power we have or give it up it really inhibits our ability to feel in control of our own lives and actions, but when we recognize that we are ALWAYS at choice we can proactively take action to impact our destiny going forward. If you decide to remain in the work environment that you are currently in despite the toxicity because you have assessed that it is the best choice for you right now, the first thing you must decide to do is not to contribute to the negativity. It is impossible to be a force of change in an environment while you are actively contributing to its destruction. This includes not contributing to saying negative things about others (i.e. backbiting), criticizing the decisions of others or in anyway engaging in behaviors that are not constructive. In order to begin to bloom where you are planted and be the change that you want to see in your environment you must be solutions oriented and give feedback from good motives rather than just trying to make yourself look good. People generally engage in criticism and backbiting for selfish motives. These motives to either make themselves seem better than others or to seem interesting. Backbiting is a rather cheap and artificial way to massage the ego and if the only thing interesting that another person has to say is gossiping about another, the truth is that they are actually not that interesting. Instead of contributing to the toxicity in the environment, make a bold decision to be a force for good or do yourself and everyone else a favor and move on!
2. Celebrate The Contribution Of Others Through Recognition And Showing Appreciation
Toxic environments are usually plagued with self-promotion and competition so whatever your level is in an organization you can choose to counteract that tendency by catching someone else doing good work or actions and verbally acknowledge them or by showing appreciation. If you are in a position of authority publicly recognizing them in front of the team is an even nicer added bonus to build a healthy work environment. Just be sure that you are spreading the love and finding ways to recognize multiple members of the team, not just one person repeatedly as this could create animosity and envy.
3. Work On Your Own Internal Mindset And Motivation
It is really hard to work on making your external environment more positive when your internal environment is a disaster. Work on making sure that your own mindset is positive through meditation, reading positive books, finding the good in the environment, affirmations, being grateful or whatever you know are your go to ways to “get out of the funk”. One of the most effective ways to shift your mindset is to find a problem that you can solve. This could mean proposing a plan of action to leadership, or just pulling together a group of like minded people and just do it! Many times I see people waiting for permission to start taking action rather than just going ahead with their ideas. Never forget that it is better to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission when you have a solutions oriented mindset.
4. Then Work On Being Solution Oriented
This point is implied in number three but is worth separately highlighting here. Complainers and gossips are good about talking about a problem but what every environment needs is an innovative and solutions oriented person. If you are consistently scanning the situation to see how you can resolve a set of issues, it takes away the feeling of hopelessness and frustration and instead puts you in the place of power. The one with the solution is the one with the most power. Don’t forget this point however, actions that detract and tear down an environment such as gossiping and criticism are not conducive to innovation. You can chose my dear friend, to improve a situation through innovation or you can choose to issue hunt but you cannot do both. Decide which side of the fence you want to be on.
5. Denial Isn’t The Answer, Beware Of Fake Peace
I recognize that I have been pretty peachy in this blog talking about all the positive attitude, speech patterns and mindset that has to be employed to counteract a toxic environment. However, this is not an excuse to ignore glaring problems and pretend they don’t exist. In order for toxic behaviors to stop they must be confronted, so dare to be disruptive and don’t go along with the drama in order to get along. Just because people don’t talk about a problem or acknowledge it doesn't mean the problem doesn’t exit, and most importantly it does not solve the problem. The leadership trait of speaking truth to power is a differentiated attribute if you know how to employ it in the right way as it can quickly descend into complaining. However, if you combine having difficult but frank conversations with people with the previous point of being solutions oriented then you will be respected as a leader who is direct and not bashful about addressing issues.
6. Get A Life Outside Of Work, Pursue Other Passions
While work takes up the majority of our waking hours, if we work full-time it should not be the only thing we have going on in our lives. When work is the only thing, we become one dimensional and have too much at stake when we are facing challenging times in this area. Quit putting all of your eggs into one basket, in terms of your level of contentment and happiness. I am not telling you to quit working but what I am saying is don’t let work be the only thing you have going on! Get a dog or cat. Find a hobby or volunteer. Get some friends. Spend time with your spouse, family and children. Do something else that interests you so that you have a balanced life and an outlet when you inevitably go through tumultuous times at work.
Powerful Coaching Question
Which one of these 6 tips did you find particularly helpful? What action are you committed to taking in order to not only survive but thrive in your toxic work environment?
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