It has taken me years to get with the program but I finally started reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey! I'm not done with the book yet but today I want to talk about being proactive and choosing how you react to your environment. I read a part in the book where employees were complaining about a difficult manager and then I decided to draw inspiration from that.
Difficult managers and toxic workplaces seem to be very common these days. At least once a week I get asked a question regarding how to deal with a toxic workplace, and I always say that you need to make a decision on the type of person YOU want to be in that workplace. You can choose to complain and add to the toxicity of the situation OR you can choose to do something different. If you change, something else around you must change too, it is the law of nature. Choose to focus on the things that are in your control and you will see the difference in yourself and the situation around you.
You might be thinking YeS BuT WhY mUsT I ChAnGe?! well, you can't force anyone else to change so you might as well do something yourself. And if what you have been doing hasn't worked for you so far, now is the time to think of something new.
You can choose to greet people in the morning. You can choose to anticipate what your difficult manager is going to ask you and to provide the information upfront. You can choose not to react to the office gossip or to people that purposefully try to trigger you. You can choose to learn a new skill on your own. These are the types of things that are in your control. This won't miraculously make your workplace sunshine and roses but it's a start.
If you have found value in what I'm talking about and you want to know more about how you can apply this at your workplace, then book a free 45min Career Clarification Session with me here: https://calendly.com/laurengamba/clarification-session
Until next time, stay safe!
