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In my research and quest to find the most effective workplace cultures, I have found that, generally speaking, people at work behave in the most inhumane ways for one underlying reason:
They don't feel cared for.
That may sound squishy, but it's true, and the research backs it up. A lack of love and care in people, especially those in management roles, leads to an unhealthy pursuit of power and control over others.
When your motive is to control the behavior of other people, you experience a sensation of power that gives you false invincibility that excuses you from the innate human responsibility of looking after the needs of others. There's nothing loving about that. Yet most of us abuse that power every day, but we don't recognize it because this behavior is so common in the prevailing work cultures of the day.
To identify abusive behaviors of power that disrupt loyal workers and turn the workplace into a fear-based pressure cooker, it's essential to pay closer attention to certain toxic behaviors that we may already be familiar with but don't typically associate with such kind of power. It's time to ask ourselves, "Do I see any of these behaviors at work?"
When people talk about others behind their backs, they're in a position to hurt them and exert control over their reputations. While your gossiping peers or coworkers won't admit it, they enjoy that feeling of power and should be dealt with swiftly.
Be cautious of people who control or hoard information. For instance, if you need important information from someone to meet a deadline and that person deliberately withholds it from you or gives it to you in small pieces, it can be frustrating. However, this behavior can give the other person a sense of power over you.
Many of us love to share secrets, confidential data, or privileged information because, in those moments, we control the conversation. While it may be tempting to entice others to participate and get tangled in this web of gossip, we may not be aware of its damaging effects. As soon as you hear the words "Want to hear a secret?" come out of a coworker's mouth, that's a clear warning sign you're working with a toxic person.
Pay attention to your manager or CEO. Many abuse their positional authority to intimidate people into doing what they want or to agree with them even when the team knows there's a better course of action. Some managers fail to delegate on purpose to control all the decisions, even the smallest ones. This approach is toxic and a waste of leadership, but it gives the manager a feeling of control and power.
When managers or coworkers dismiss the valuable ideas proposed by their team members for improving a product or the business, it gives them a false sense of power. However, this comes at the cost of disengaging and demotivating their employees. It's toxic, and it has to go.
For coworkers or managers who use toxic behaviors to exert power, negative consequences follow. These include:
1. They are never satisfied for long. When power wears off, they immediately crave more, leading to a never-ending cycle of power addiction.
2. People in power have a constant air of desperation, lacking peace and contentment. Power never brings lasting joy.
3. Power-hungry people are naturally selfish, only thinking for themselves and rarely considering others or the team's well-being.
4. People in power eventually become disillusioned and lose their motivation for working.
5. Those controlled by those in power lose their ability to independently make decisions and exercise creativity.
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06.02.2024
Why Your Gen-Z Workers Are Stressed About Using AI Tools at Work
Why Climate Tech Companies Have a Recycling Problem
Jerome Powell: Remote Work Won't Cause a Banking Crisis--Most Likely
Mark Cuban Doubles Down on Support for DEI After Trading Barbs With Anti-Diversity Crusader Elon Musk
Americans Trust Small Businesses More Than Any Other Institution
Has the Credit Crunch Peaked? Lenders Offer Their Take in New Report
Persistent Labor Shortages? A New Bipartisan Senate Agreement Would Create 90,000 Additional Employment Visas
In my research and quest to find the most effective workplace cultures, I have found that, generally speaking, people at work behave in the most inhumane ways for one underlying reason:
They don't feel cared for.
That may sound squishy, but it's true, and the research backs it up. A lack of love and care in people, especially those in management roles, leads to an unhealthy pursuit of power and control over others.
When your motive is to........
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