In the fast few days I have been besieged by bright, exciting people being really stressed out and somewhat paranoid about everything. They are worried about being laid off, money, the future, etc. Their bosses seem to be relentless critics and every comment is intercepted as a threat. They are in panic over adjusting their financial lifestyle. Cooperation with co-workers is at least perceived to being replaced by every man for himself. The most interesting common feeling is “I am extending myself for everyone and getting nothing in return.”
While many of these feelings may be real, they are simply not productive. We need a balance between reality, paranoia and action and positive thinking. Some suggestions for creating a better feeling are as follows:
- The easiest and most positive things we can do to create a positive culture is to say thank you, care about people and be supportive with praise and encouragement . Why do some of the same managers who are supportive with their kids and family go to work and just spend the whole day criticizing everything?
- We need to encourage open communication, realism, and problem solving. Assessing the situation, having discussions with bosses, having discussions with outside and inside colleagues can all be useful.
- Develop some small positive steps. This may require making a decision to fight for your current position or simply look for a new job. It definitely requires a new perspective and not doing anything.
In summary, we need to separate the reality from the paranoia. Many perceptions are simply a function of the times. One of the best lessons I learned about this was when I was 10 years old going to school with my father and Uncle Harry.
My mother would always complain to my father at breakfast that his tie was dirty or his shirt didn’t match or something. Every day, whatever my mother told my father, he would criticize my Uncle Harry while driving me to school. Uncle Harry would then be upset about what in fact was a random comment applied to him.
I found the same thing happens in our lives. Someone is having a bad day about work, their personal lives or home and it just filters down and across the organization for the whole day. How often do we say, “watch out for the boss, he is in a mean mood,” and then get personally upset when we are part of a more general attack. Try both understanding the comments and trying to be a little positive in this stressful period.
