Imagine a young child
at a daycare center. Having attended the center since she was
six weeks old, this particular little darling knows everyone
there and has built strong relationships with her fellow
playmates. She has “graduated” from the nursery and has moved up
to the “big kids” room, where now she even assists in the
nursery. One Monday morning, she makes her usual rounds, and
being the diva she is, prances from room to room, giving
everyone hugs and kisses—unknowingly infecting members of the
daycare facility with the highly contagious chicken pox virus
she had picked up from her favorite cousin, who visited over the
weekend.
Isn’t it interesting how one person can negatively affect the
health of an entire organization without even realizing it?
Well, a bad attitude can be transmitted in much the same way—and
it can destroy team morale in any organization.
To better
understand the negative impact that a destructive attitude can
have on the work environment, let’s take a look at how this
“team-destroying” virus works.
The primary way
this virus is spread is through negative communication about the
organization or company. Sadly, the most common carriers of the
virus tend to be the employees who have been at a company the
longest. Often, they’re bitter about their circumstances—their
pay, their position in the company, the overall work
environment, etc. They particularly like to get their hands on
the newest employees, immediately entangling them in their
team-destroying tentacles to make sure that these new hires will
soon hate their jobs and the company as much as the bitterest
employees do. These poor-attitude mentors spew as much negative
communication as possible, impairing the ability of new
employees to bond with the business team. More dangerous still,
these negative communicators are often fun to be around,
charismatic, and influential. New employees often become very
comfortable with these people because of their tenure with the
organization and their personalities.
If we are
experiencing such a situation, we must look at it practically,
which means first, we must understand our relationships with
coworkers. Why are we drawn to a particular person? Is it
negative communication that binds us together? Is it that we
cannot wait to see each other every day so that we can share
what we hate about the company, our boss, and/or our daily
situation? Do we greet each other eager to relate how some
particular manager gets on our last nerve, or how frustrated we
are with our hours, our pay, or our benefits?
A wise man once
told me, “You should never communicate a problem to a person who
can’t get your problem solved.” Take the litmus test yourself
this upcoming work week. Evaluate every work relationship you
have and identify the basis of each. (This even works on a
personal level: Do you have anyone you talk to just because you
both love to bash your spouses and try to figure out who has the
worst one?) After a few days, you will begin to understand that
these coworkers or so-called friends who get and keep you
pessimistically focused and negatively charged are spreading a
team-killing virus and stealing your joy. Maybe you have even
learned that you are one of them! Are you unknowingly spreading
this virus throughout your company? If so, ask yourself how long
you’ve been doing it and exactly whom you’ve infected.
The good news is
that most viruses have cures. The antidote for this particular
one is to participate in your company’s vision. Look for the
positives in all your coworkers, no matter how hard you have to
dig. Finally, commit yourself to giving all you have to your
employer as long as you’re employed there. This will strengthen
your team-building immune system and the team-destroying virus
will no longer be effective against you.
After you’re
healthy, identify who infected you, go back to those infected
employees and remind them of the positives and the many
wonderful things your company represents. Focus especially on
the new employees, who are usually the most vulnerable. Before
you know it, you will have become a tremendous asset to your
company and to your friends. And watch, once your value has
increased, so will your pay.
As for that little
darling at the daycare center, well, she stayed home all week,
soaking up loads of calamine lotion. She took her medicine for
chicken pox and is now immune to the disease, just as you now
have the necessary means to permanently ward off the
team-destroying virus.
