Have you ever found yourself in a situation when you were absolutely sure that you did your best accomplishing a task at work and final result is only a step away from being brilliant, but your line manager is not happy with it, trying politely and indirectly to point you your place? Here is the good news, if this situation is too familiar for you, CONGRATULATIONS, you must be having something those people can only dream about! Let us take a precise look at the situations.
To flip your own attitude first we should understand the root of their behavior towards you. There might be several reasons causing their behavior such as jealousy, fear, or both combined.
Jealousy
It might sound surprising what people standing higher in the corporate hierarchy can be jealous about… The core point is that the grass is greener on the other side. Secondly, in fact, your ideas can be brighter, you might tackle the problems more professionally, you can even get along with the college better. In their eyes, you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and have got everything by snapping your fingers.
Fear
Can you imagine having such a brilliant employee in the team who highlights unintentionally all your weak points. Also fear tends to exaggerate everything, so most likely they have already visualized the picture of you taking over their comfortable chair. At the same time, fear can work as a driving force which is natural as no one wants to lose their position. Being on low vibrations like jealousy and fear, the only plan of action they can take is to try and pull you down to their level or lower and the only tool they have is to use their authority.
Having understood their motivation, it is time to talk about the ways of coping with this situation. The first idea that comes to mind is to quit the job, which is ok, the world is full of opportunities, and being a brilliant team member, you just need to take a thorough look around to find at least one or two. So, if you have set your mind on finding a better place, go for it! But what if, for some reason, you are not able to leave the job right now, or even more, you see potential in the current place, in this case, it is better to work out a certain plan of action to win the battles.
Don’t take it personally
When they try to attack you directly or through other people, it is better to stay cool and try to complete the tasks put to you from the upper floor. It may sound nonsense, but doing that you win some time as these people are waiting for you to explore so that they can use their authority to cool you down. Definitely, the last thing you want to do is to give them such a chance. Good news for you, not having an opportunity to demonstrate their power they are burning inside which is a lot worse than handling some extra work. And once your workday is over, you have every right to your own time not having to check your email every hour and return messages or calls straight away. Just take your time and make them wait.
Carry on being professional at the workplace
You know all your strong traits, demonstrate them clearly in black and white, don’t convert yourself into a gray blur, succumbing to their pressure to do so. Moreover, staying professional will leave them with no chance of emotionally exploiting you, ultimately your position will become stronger day by day.
Keep your private life private from toxic people
We all have ups and downs but don’t reveal in the office that you have got into arguments with your partner, you have been called into the school or your car doesn’t work properly anymore. Those people are seeking your weaknesses and it doesn’t matter where that weakness comes from. Deep inside they will only sing and dance if they can smell something that bothers you emotionally.
Treat yourself at weekends or when there is a chance
Working in a toxic environment requires a lot of energy. Unfortunately, being human we don’t have unlimited resources. Somehow, we need to gain those resources. A hobby can help or spend time with close people when you don’t need to hold the line, so you can relax and enjoy your time.
There is always a silver lining
All people who come into our lives, do it for a reason, and toxic ones shouldn’t be an exception. It is a matter of choice what reaction we give to their actions. You can allow it to demotivate you, but let me remind you one more time that this is their core aim… or you can use them for personal growth and creating new opportunities.
Once we have put all the puzzles together, here is the final picture: don’t concentrate on the words which are addressed to you or steps which are made towards you, focus more on what you are an expert at, so ultimately expectation of those toxic ones won’t meet with your reality.
That is all that I wanted to discuss today, but if you have something else to add, please don’t forget to leave a comment! Enjoy your coffee!
