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Some organizations are poisonous, and they can infect everyone who works there.  But if you have been in a toxic workplace too long, you may have come to accept sick behavior as normal.  And you may even start to think that there’s something wrong with you.  So here are some clues to watch for – and if you spot even one or two of these signs, you might want to start polishing up your resume and looking for a healthier place to work.

1.      Power struggles and power plays are common and ongoing. 

2.      Management egos need to be stroked on a regular basis. 

3.      Executives are primarily focused on increasing their power or fattening their purses. 

4.      People only talk to their managers if they absolutely have to.

5.      Entire departments are at war with each other.

6.      Management pays more attention to what employees do wrong than what they do right. 

7.      Employees spend a lot of energy on CYA activities. 

8.      Problems automatically trigger the search for a scapegoat. 

9.      Gossip, put-downs, blaming, and back-biting are common among co-workers. 

10.  Disagreements get personal and insulting. 

11.  Co-workers have a “my way or the highway” attitude and seldom help one another.

12.  Unreasonably long work hours are a way of life.  There’s no such thing as a weekend.

13.  No consideration is given to personal or family issues.

Toxic organizations are usually the product of toxic leadership.  For better or worse, the values and beliefs of top executives determine the culture of their companies.  So if you find yourself in one of these unhealthy places, you have two choices: either take stress management classes and pray for a leadership change or get out!  As soon as you leave, everything happening in that sick little world will become totally irrelevant to your life. 

All material on yourofficecoach.com is copyrighted to Marie G. McIntyre.  All rights reserved.

 May be reproduced for non-commercial use with copyright and attribution to www.yourofficecoach.com.

Commercial use requires permission: email mmcintyre@yourofficecoach.com .

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