Aretha Franklin belts it out!
Can’t you just hear Aretha Franklin singing it out? “R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me?”
And just what does it mean to me? I care very deeply about respectful engagement in the workplace. And, I hope you do too.
Most of us spend 40 hours + in the workplace and hopefully it’s an enjoyable experience. I went and bought an Apple computer a couple of weeks ago and Joe Cady, the guy who sold it to me, raved about what an outstanding culture the Apple organization has. He just kept saying, “Apple takes care of their employees and it’s a great place to work!” I thought, “That’s great.” His experience with Apple as an employer showed on his face and in his attitude in dealing with me: the customer. And this matters to me.”
Can you imagine a culture where one person yells at another, uses abusive language, gossips, sabotages, and constantly berates the other front of their peers, etc? Unfortunately many people can. Seriously, a large percentage of us have experienced this first-hand and it isn’t pleasant and it definitely doesn’t help us to be productive smiling employees. Depending on the extent of the abuse, it can take a toll on the victim. I know a coaching client who totally lost her sense of self-worth. She told me, “By the time I had been at that organization a year, I couldn’t even think straight enough to compose a simple email.”
I wish that something could be done about these cultures. I’m going to make a bold declaration: I want to eradicate this type of behavior from “all” workplaces! I know, it’s a really big problem to solve, but collectively we can make a difference.
I want to let people know about Mitchell Kuzy, Ph.D. and Elizabeth Holloway, Ph.D. Mitch lives in the San Francisco area and Elizabeth in Austin; however, they travel extensively sharing their research findings. They are two leaders who are making a difference! They understand that civility is influenced by the organization’s culture. To tackle the problem, the team has created a cohesive model of intervention that takes care of civility at three levels of the organization: individual, team and organizational. It often doesn’t work to tell the offenders just to stop. Although, I would contend, that this is important too.
And, I would also say “Yes, you guessed it. The top leadership has to care – care enough to implement the kinds of interventions that do transform the organization.”
Most organizational behavior experts will tell you that the process of becoming a more respectful organization begins with the organization having values around respectful engagement. These values should be communicated. But unfortunately the clearest values of all will not solve the problem until integrated into all areas of the organization’s systems (e.g., processes that provide feedback, leadership development opportunities, etc.)
Without intervention, toxic behaviors begin to effect both the individual and team productivity. It starts to infect the community inside and outside the organization. Employees in the midst of this problem aren’t smiling at each other or those they serve.
Powerful question: What can you do to eradicate this type of behavior from workplaces?
Here’s a place to start:
- Read Mitch and Elizabeth’s book, Toxic Workplace: Managing toxic personalities and their systems of power.
- Take Mitch and Elizabeth’s telecourse at the Workplace Coach Institute. It starts April 22nd. http://www.workplacecoachinstitute.com/
Great post Cheri! I worked in a toxic workplace at a university for a year and a half and finally had the opportunity to accept job with another organization. The problem I ran into was that it was the director of the program that was/is the bully and she has her bosses fooled into believing she's the best thing since sliced bread. There have been complaints from students/faculty, but to no avail. I just think they don't care. Her program makes the University lots of money and that's really all that matters. Students and faculty alike are treated with disrespect and live in constant fear of doing something wrong and getting "called in" to get reamed out by the director. But, how is it ever going to improve if the President/Vice President of the university turn a blind eye to the situation? And how can those of us who have been victims help to institute change without ruining our careers?
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