How a Toxic Workplace Can Make You Sick?

A toxic workplace is a direct result of and is generally characterized by the following:

• Unbalanced organizational structure - Those heading different areas are at peer-level as far as their roles are concerned but are not at par as far as their grades are concerned. This simply means those who are at the lesser grades have lesser power in the organizational hierarchy.
• Coterie of the top man - The top man in such organizations nurture and promote a close-knit inner circle. This exclusive old boys club is privy to all the key information while others are provided only sketchy information and that too not always.
• Too many emails - Such organizations thrive on too many emails being sent back and forth. The top man and his pet coterie love writing long emails once in a while about issues that ideally should be getting discussed in a face-to-face meeting.
• Holier than thou attitude of the coterie - The coterie in this case acts like a privileged lot. They go for lunch together, act as a bunch of college boys rather than professional colleagues and come across as boorish and biased.
• Negative emails - The coterie is also adept at sending emails laced with venom. They would write any non-sense to defend their position and to pulverize the others. As they are pet stooges and part of the coterie, the top man will choose to ignore their acts.
• Lack of professionalism - The coterie will talk about professionalism but act in an otherwise manner. The way they write emails, the way they speak in meetings, the way they do not respond to meeting invites and the way they act as smart ass show their professionalism or rather the lack of it.

All this can make you sick. Very sick.

• You may start carrying toxicity back to your home
• You may stay awake in night thinking what kind of a deep shit you are into
• You may start experiencing health issues
• You may start loosing your calm and composure
• You may start wondering how come you got into this hell-like workplace
• You may start analyzing your work situation in terms of how to stay positive

Despite all the good theories that glorify what a progressive organization looks and acts like, the fact is that toxic organizations are more common than one would like to have.

If you are one of those unfortunate ones trapped in a toxic workplace, it is important for you to stay positive and professional. Always.

Remember, there is always a dawn waiting at the end of every dark, long night.