Is It Me Or Is It The Workplace?

Can’t fogure out what causes a toxic work environment? Wondering if it’s you or the workplace? Spoiler: We have the answers. 

It’s A Concrete Jungle Out There

Navigating the modern workplace is not for the faint of heart. You may have considered yourself a pretty tough cookie. Most of our patients are known for their dogged determination. Yet, it’s hard to keep up your innate ambition when the rules of the workplace are always changing and the rewards are inconsistent. If merit and good ideas don’t matter, what does? You may realize, at some point, that it’s not you; it’s the job environment. Yet, that still doesn’t solve your underlying issues.  

Although you may try, you can’t get rid of: 

• The dread of turning on your laptop in the morning 
• The wish that you could do anything but sit through another meeting with X 
• The sleepless nights 
• The guilt about, well, lots of things 
• The replay of conversations where you actually knew something, but couldn’t or didn’t get a chance to say it right
• The anger about injustices 
• False inferences about things you didn’t do or never meant 
• Work you did, but was then discounted or stolen 
• Total lack of motivation 

Hint:Other People Might Be Your

Answer to What Causes a Toxic

Work Environment

Are you dealing with an egotistical, dysfunctional or erratic boss? Or, the worst, a combination of all of the above, which, sadly, is not an uncommon profile in management. When forced to work with these personality types, even the strongest and most savvy worker can start to feel spent. There’s a good chance that you also feel a sense of injustice and inequity. This injustice can create a broader sense of resentment (often valid, but still hard to live with!).

Add to this an increasing sense of overall uncertainty—really, world politics and the economy, can you be just a little more predictable?!—and it starts to become unbearable.  

How do you know if it is you or the workplace? It’s hard to know (right?) because many of our own issues impact how we interact with the environments we interact with. However, there are some stressors from the environment that are known to exacerbate things and may explain why you hate your job. 

Before you blame yourself for overreacting to what causes a toxic work environment, consider external factors. 

Workplace Factors as Causing a

Toxic Work Environment

#1 A lack of predictability

When you never know if you are going to staying on the same team or working on a new project. When you feel like the projects you are working on are constantly shifting. The energy you would use to solve a problem becomes mired down in trying to predict which way the current will shift.

#2 A discounting of your worth

Everyone wants to be valued. However, when your negative traits are magnified and all of the contributions you have made are discounted or minimized…. Well, can we say demotivation is likely to ensue on a massive scale? Yes, we can.

#3 A Self-serving bosses

When your boss is only out for #1, you can start to feel like you are living life as a constant #2 (number two….eww, never good!). And even if your immediate boss has your back, it can be difficult if the systems above your boss impart restrictions that make advancement impossible. And worse, you can feel thwarted when it is explained to you that it is either beyond your boss’s control, or worse, due to some step or strategy you supposedly missed or botched, but never even knew about. Yep, sounds like the answer to what causes a toxic work environment. 

#4 Systematic Issues 

Yes, things like sexism, racism, and inefficiency can seem positively built right into the workplace. Ok, they’re not necessarily consciously woven in. It’s more like the boundaries of society’s failings don’t see or respect the “Not Welcome” sign at the workplace.

To Know What Causes a Toxic

Work Environment Is To Heal

The beauty of psychology is that it also applies to the workplace.

When you learn not just better coping skills, but also truly understand the underlying psychological components of those you may be working with, you uncovering what causes a toxic work environment.

With this knowledge, you gain power. This insight equips you with a greater sense of peace and gives you a real upper-hand in navigating situations that are seemingly dead-ends.

As fellow ambitious types who specialize in treating professionals and students, we get it.

We understand the complex environments of academia, high-end law firms, medicine, and governmental agencies and contractors.

So, with us, you won’t have to waste time explaining the background you are navigating or setting the stage. We understand.

We are here to offer solutions applicable within these contexts—not for some alternate universe where work-life balance is already a thing and sexism or preferential treatment doesn’t exist. We help you navigate your actual workplace and better use science to understand how to get closer to where you want to be and how you want your life to look.

I’m ready escape the churn.