Coping In A Toxic Work Environment

Have you experienced DREAD in the morning when you get up knowing you have to go give your best to a workplace that doesn’t value you, has poor leadership, and kills a little bit of your soul everyday? Probably a lot of us can say “Yes” to that question.

Warning Signs of a Toxic Workplace:

• Lack of Leadership
• Employees Tearing Each Other Down
• Passive / Aggressive Leadership
• Destructive Gossip
• Back Stabbing Politices
• Abundant Negativity

Toxic environments can destroy your self esteem and make you negative, angry and possibly depressed.  You need to safe guard yourself.

Tips for Remaining Positive:

• Remember you are not defined by your environment.
• Practice positive self-talk.
• Post uplifting quotes everywhere.
• Recognize you can’t control what other people say or do.
• Remind yourself who you truly are.
• Focus on yourself and self improvement.  This will take your mind off of others and your environment.
• View your situation as a learning experience.
• Document poor leadership qualities and management mistakes for you to use when you are a leader or manager.

Do your best to conduct yourself with integrity; attempting to be the best at the job you were hired for while you are looking for new work.  Even though this employer probably doesn’t deserve your loyalty or hard work; working hard in bad circumstances says a lot about your character to the people around you and that reputation will follow you wherever you go.