How to stay woke in toxic workplaces
The pandemic has knocked off the definition of workplace. Moreover the rapid transition to remote culture has still left many people grappling with new challenges: imposing screen fatigue, prolonged work hours, compromised mental health and changing knobs of lifestyle.
Invariably, one looming feature has been the modern work culture masquerading as seeds of toxicity. This set up has promoted the need to crown yourself in the number one spot. To be the coveted resource of all resources. And this has encouraged many people to fill holes in their self-esteem by fixating their identity through their job titles. It’s as if there is a purposeful ignorance of “human” in “human resources”.
These things point towards a toxic work culture. A place where you are struggling to breathe through structure more than chaos. A regrettable feeling where you are made to feel inferior despite all your efforts, blood and sweat.
Personally, I have seen people work their fingers to the bone who fail to prioritise their health — both physical and mental. This is done to just earn that “well-deserved” promotion or get that extra 2% raise in their paychecks.
“Don’t be mediocre. Stretch yourself to meet your full potential and then.. Stretch some more till you get your foot in your mouth,” you are told with inspiring cadence; as if it’s a feat that everyone should aspire to achieve.
In fact many of my friends were advised to learn the skill of being “professional.” It roughly translates to swallow your respect, gob on other’s vulnerabilities and claim your position. This is the only way to go beyond survival and thrive as a successful corporate ninja.
You can look out for the following signs to figure out the scale of problems and find a resolve.
Red flag 1: Reciting the urgent need for visibility
Up until recently, I had never understood the need to have a visible stance during any meetings/ projects. But with a little more experience I realised that speaking in meetings (even for 5 mins) is all it takes to ensure “ownership”.
It could be as shallow as recapping the “trial and errors” into significantly bigger achievements by someone. It’s all about the perceived struggle and not the actual output.
Probable resolve:
Notice how frequent this gets and initiate active dialogue with your manager. If you get the vibe that social presence is valued more than your skills, spell out your facts in a big and bold way. Showcase how your competence beats the pretense of other “loud” team members. Your results will ring louder than the applause after any shallow comment in a meeting.
Red flag 2: People who never share their secret sauce
Working with a team of self-motivated and bright people is the dream team. It’s where if one person fails, other people motivate and help out that person. It’s all about creating things better and bigger than ourselves.
I have worked with many smart and capable people in many teams. Now, I always find myself willing to learn anything from people who can work their magic of expertise. One such incident that stands out the most is when I asked a team member to help me with a certain complexity. But while asking for help from this person (after actively looking for solutions from different sources), I could easily cut the tension with a blunt knife. My probing questions and curiosity seemed to get on their nerves and after a point they paid no heed to it.
This shook my confidence to ask for help. I couldn’t place my embarrassment in my head. I beat myself the entire day for my shortcomings and after a few days I realised, it’s not going to be easy to ask help from everyone. Not everyone is going to be willing to share their recipe of secret sauce.
Probable resolve :This isn’t completely their fault. It is the collective system’s fault where everyone is pitted against each other to beat each other! This makes people so intensely competitive that people lose their humanity and aim to be bigger cogs of the same damn machine. Take this experience with a pinch of salt and try to find people who genuinely love helping others.
Red Flag 3: Sideline habits that provoke you to hate yourself
No job is perfect. People who pursue their passion also see ugly days. But things can go downhill real quick when many people still survive the toxicity within teams because they fail to see their lives from a bigger lens. Their perspectives are bathed in their own set of biases. They hardly believe in the possibilities of betterment.
It’s easy for them to chug their respect down their throat to water the fire in their belly. Infact, I have seen so many talented people just drown in complacency or excuses instead of sticking out a brave front towards their dream life.
Probable resolve: I understand that quitting your job is not easy. But, taking a step towards a life of fulfilment is worth a shot. Life is more than cribbing about your day and living for the weekends. It takes a lot of effort to stitch your values together with patches of confidence. Taking that leap could go either way, but will atleast leave you with a sense of “yes! I tried.”
Final thoughts
The world is not a total bad guy. It teaches life lessons like collaborating with diverse people, finding the correct approach for conflict resolution and navigating through tough terrains to make your mark. But, at the end it all comes down to you to choose and brave your battles.
