Conflicting, demanding and empathetic people create toxic environments in which negativity is contagious and even able to make us sick, a reality that is immediately noticed in many family and professional contexts, where the air seems addictive, where stress is physical, fear is palpable and misfortune is a relentless virus.
Workplace experts often differentiate what is called a “toxic environment from a nutritious environment” in any business. Interestingly, this is something that can be identified almost instantly. Of course, there are standardized variables that aim to perform this measurement objectively and rigorously, however, sometimes it is enough to walk through a company to feel the tension, structural discomfort and pressure that mark the faces of employees and different departments.
- The same is true at the family level.
- The type of language used.
- The tone and even the attitude of each of its protagonists distills that emotional complexity that permeates the environment and all the family dynamics.
- There are toxic environments that transcend the tenants themselves to the point of moving to third parties.
- Because the environment of an environment is composed of adverse feelings.
- Uncertainties.
- Aggressive language and systemic stress that is very difficult to defend.
Here’s to deepen your knowledge of this topic
Do we know that the term “toxic people” is fashionable. However, we must be careful when using it, as we can often abuse it. Sometimes, behind this label, there may be someone suffering from depression, anxiety disorder, or a medical condition. It is necessary to be careful, careful and sensitive in the treatment of the subject.
On the other hand, what is undoubtedly very clear is the climate that is created around these other personalities characterized by conflict, abuse and total lack of empathy or proximity with those who are part of their daily life.
A few years ago, “Fortune” magazine, accustomed to charting, drew up a list of the best companies in the world to work with, without using the salary or profits of these companies as variables to make this valuation. was the level of employee satisfaction. Interestingly, what you noticed in the study is that most companies have the DNA toxicity virus of their structure, and it is also somewhat systemic and chronic.
Sometimes it’s not enough to replace the managers. The structure and policy of some companies have created a chronic control-based environment, where achieving goals was more important than employee well-being, and in the “head down” culture, where it is better to shut up and take over in order to keep the job going.
Gradually, the empire of unhappiness, fear and uncertainty grows in the minds of all human capital in these toxic environments, limiting true productivity, innovation, creativity and, above all, health.
Throughout our lives we will meet people in conflict anywhere, however, we are clear that we will not always be able to create distance, it is not always so easy to break the bond and move away from at least two cities, to cultivate a healthy silence and the security of never seeing that person again. Sometimes this conflicting core is found in our own home or in our work, those toxic environments that we can’t get out of.
A few years ago, out of curiosity, the figure of the “director of coaching happiness or well-being” appeared in the labor market, a person trained and specialized in the subject whose objective would be to create an environment of trust an adequate communication, where its employees feel really happy and valued. While something so basic certainly guarantees the company’s own productivity, it’s something we don’t usually see, at least for a while.
We must try to change policies, attitudes and perspectives, in fact, we are not only talking about improving work environments, we are also talking about the need to establish new dynamics in schools: the first context in which future generations are formed. they identify themselves because they have a sense of permanence, where respect and personal dignity are defended, where creativity, personal realization and genuine, close and palpable empathy are encouraged.
So let’s be the architects of more human scenarios, starting probably with those closest to us, where we evolve every day, it’s definitely a worthwhile task.
Images courtesy of Nicoletta Ceccoli.