What is a toxic soup?
It’s an environment (it surrounds you) in which you do not feel free to express yourself or your ideas fully. Think of oppressed people living in a communist country, where everything is tightly controlled.
In regards to a work situation, a toxic environment is a place where you won’t be able to shine. If you’re looking for a place to grow and advance in your career, it simply will not happen in this kind of an office environment.
In my last blog post, a client of mine found herself working in a toxic work atmosphere. Unfortunately she realized this only a few short months after taking a new job. I asked my client to look around and see what kind of people worked there. Why?
A toxic work environment is filled with small thinkers and low energy people; basically it is one big downer. If you work in this kind of situation, you will eventually feel depressed, depleted, exhausted, and frustrated. Chances are good you will never enjoy your job or receive any appreciation for your ideas. Furthermore, if the person at the top of the organization is passive aggressive (see last blog post), then this climate originates from the top down and nobody will be allowed to outshine the boss. The person at the top will do everything he or she can to make sure that they remain #1 (they like to control everything) and that nobody surpasses them in any capacity whatsoever. Contrast that to a true leader who values (rather than feels threatened by or jealous of) the skills and abilities an accomplished employee brings to the table.
So what can my client do?
Leave.
Plain and simple. Look elsewhere or change careers (this is where a career coach can help). Yes, even in this economy. If she stayed, she would lose all semblance of that bright bubbly person that she is. I have seen it happen to others, and it is such a shame when it does.
I told her that if she stayed, chances are that she would find herself “on the outs” at some point down the line. What does that mean? Either she would leave or her boss would cast her aside (as in eventually lay her off or start to exclude her from company meetings, etc.). Why? That’s what passive aggressive people do. They use you as long as they need to or as long as you have value to them. Then they’re done and that’s it. When you no longer fill their needs then you are of no use to them. They withdraw from the relationship.
I suggested that she look for a different place of employment, change careers, or go out on her own. She needs a different work atmosphere, full of creative people – big thinkers who are more fun and have more energy. That would be much better for her in the long-term.
What do you think?
Would you leave if you were in the same situation?
Your advice, Karen, is astute and truthful. The issue is given today’s economy, many folks are loathe to act upon it. So, the alternative solution is to IMMEDIATELY begin searching for another position. And, be prepared, in today’s wired world, to be found out and, perhaps, invited to use the exit door. Which means that while you are seeking this new, worthy position, you should begin “tightening your belt”, putting away money, should the situation arise.
Even if the replacement position involves NO additional compensation- take it, if the toxicity is eradicated!
Leaving is pretty much the best advice possible. People stay way to long in a “comfort zone”, where it just seems easier to take the next day’s “crap” than to set about changing careers. But the accumulation of all that “crap” makes it all worth while. Step away and look at the big picture, and all of a sudden the effort of changing careers does not seem like such an obstacle.