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How To Stay Afloat And Manage A Toxic Environment

How To Stay Afloat And Manage A Toxic Environment

How To Stay Afloat And Manage A Toxic Environment

As we spend this month exploring managing ourselves, our managers and teams more effectively, we cannot go past the elephant in the room.

Those people who make our jobs difficult, challenging, hard, or unhappy.

Right, now that we’ve said that, let’s look at what this means, and how we can disarm the impact of these people on our careers, our mental health and ultimately our lives.

So many people who work with us, share about the way they have been treated poorly either in the past or current workplace.  The bullying, intimidation, demeaning, belittling behaviours that are rife in many organisations. 

Now if you are one of those people who is not in a place like this or never have been – GO YOU! Keep doing what you are doing.  Keep creating the supportive, fun, and growth work environment that you are in. This is awesome! And along the way, please spare some compassion and support for those who are.

I (Elizabeth) have worked in an environment that prides itself on power over others, under the guise of supporting and growing people in the team. However, there was an insidious undercurrent that there were specific rules, specific power games happening, and if you ever dared to poke your head above this, question this, or start developing your own autonomy and expertise, then quick as a flash, the tables were turned. Meetings occurred without you, milestones were changed without consultation, small mistakes were paraded as the end of the world, processes were made more complicated, and above all, you were isolated and excommunicated from the team.

This type of environment can be labelled in many ways. We can call it ‘unhealthy’, ‘not nice’ or even ‘toxic’. However, we need to recognise the meaning we attribute to these labels and what is the energy and emotion we are pouring into them to keep them alive. Are we continuing to allow these environments to be part of our lives, are we closing down possibilities and opportunities because we think (often unconsciously) this is all I can have, deserve or can get? This is False Evidence Appearing Real – an acronym of FEAR! 

The beauty in being able to stay afloat and manage ourselves in that moment, is to work through the meaning we are attributing to the situation.

When we hit these road blocks, whether they be certain individuals, a hierarchy, or a set of underlying beliefs that have emerged into a thriving self-perpetuating workplace culture, we need to be able to instigate our Authentic Leadership techniques and methods to stay afloat. We must protect ourselves from the fallout, and be able to get into a space where we take back our personal power, and make a decision about our future that serves us and allows us to step into our incredible potential of who we are.

Remember: we do not have to DO anything to deserve a great and supportive workplace. Every single one of us DESERVES goodness. Every single person reading this blog today must embrace the fact that YOU are worthy of goodness. You do not have to earn this. You are on this planet, you are breathing, therefore it is your birth-right to receive good things. And in the next moment, to share that with others.

So, if this scenario rings true for you, please note: There is a way to disarm and manage this environment. It doesn’t have to stay this way, you can break the pattern of attracting these people in your life, and our FREE MASTERCLASS coming up Saturday 19 February, will give you some specific techniques and methods on what to do. 

REGISTER HERE – don’t stay in the toxic environment. We can support you, stand with you and help you through this, to create lasting and effective change for YOU!

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