How was it in earlier days? It’s hard to believe, but I looked forward to going to the office in the mornings. We were not just any team; we were the team. We understood each other and had blind faith in one another. Everyone was proud of our company’s success. We knew why we were working. Not for our supervisor or the money (at least not exclusively), but for our common goals.
Everyone knew them, understood them, and did their part. The days went by in a flash. Sometimes it was even a shame that it was getting late and the working day was coming to an end. There were still so many ideas to implement, there was still so much to do…
Those were the days!
When I look back, it all seems so far away. But I remember experiencing those times—where have they gone? Nowadays, everyone thinks of themselves. Our reciprocal trust is gone. I have no clue what is going on here. Things are paradoxical, and every day there is a new bandwagon to jump on. I don’t understand anything anymore.
The lowest common denominator is trying to earn money somehow. The deeper meaning of our endeavors, however, I no longer understand. Is there even still “us”, or is everyone only focusing on “me”? After all, if everyone thinks of themselves, everyone is thought of!—Quite cynical!
What makes great cultures turn into bad ones isn’t something big. This or a similar train of thought could stem from a poisoned employee in a poisoned company. In contrast, people in a healthy company form a community with common values and goals in which everyone works together to achieve success. There are surely many reasons as to why a company loses its balance and its employees lose orientation. One thing, however, is certain:
A Toxic employee systematically ensures that people in their sphere of influence are estranged from the company. They thereby create a working environment offering them favorable conditions.
The Toxic employee aims to achieve only their personal goals, which are usually not congruent with those of the company. People in their environment are only a means to an end to them.
Once a poisoned workplace has developed, it is pointless to ask what came first: Did the company make it easy for the Toxic employee from the start, or was it the Toxiker’s influence that the company changed for the worse? In the end, it is always the innocent employees that suffer from the poisoned working place conditions.
As a leader it’s our job to fix such before you lose your priced asset-culture!
