Four Ways to Fix a Toxic Team

Rosa had worked her way out of the slums of Philadelphia and into a partner position at a her law firm. She had everything she wanted – a cushy corner office, a plush townhouse complete with a housekeeper to clean it, a brand new car, and the ability to do just about anything she wanted to without ever considering the financial implications.

She was still miserable.

She’d go home to North Philadelphia and visit her family every now and then and found she was happiest there, even though they had the same nothing she’d worked so hard to get out of.

The homeless and hungry littered the streets.

Children roamed neighborhoods with no adult supervision at all hours of the night. Some never made it home.

Unemployment was at an all-time high.

Crime was rampant.

Nothing was guaranteed.

Her Aha Moment

One Sunday evening, Rosa stopped at the local market to pick up some dinner. In front of her in the checkout line stood a mother and three small children buying hamburger and apple juice. She overheard the cashier announce the grocery total, and then the young mother said she’d have to put the hamburger back because she didn’t have enough money.

Rosa glanced at the children and instantly identified with the little girl smiling and laughing as she played with her battered doll while her mother took care of business. The child had no clue that there might not be enough money for dinner that night.

Rosa remembered the bliss of childhood innocence that kept her from seeing what was really going on until she was a teenager. At that age, she was too busy playing with her brothers and sisters to feel the harsh sting of financial problems. They had each other. It was then that Rosa realized that she’d been richer in the ghetto than she ever was in the townhouse.

She got out her wallet and paid for the woman’s groceries, and then handed her a fifty dollar bill and told her to buy something “fun” for the kids. A feeling of warmth and joy instantly consumed her.

Paying for the groceries gave Rosa an inner sense of happiness and peace she hadn’t felt in longer than she could remember. She was certainly no Warren Buffet, but she suddenly understood why he donated 99 percent of his billions, saying “I couldn’t be happier with that decision.”

On her way home, Rosa couldn’t stop thinking about the little girl. She wondered where they lived. Were they safe? Did they have heat? She shuddered as she recalled chilly nights huddled in the same bed with her brothers and sisters for warmth.

Rosa went back to her townhouse that night and couldn’t sleep. She thought about all she had and all that she didn’t.

She decided to change things. She wanted to feel that sense of joy and inner peace every day.

The next morning, she used her position at the law firm to spearhead a fundraiser for Philadelphia’s inner city kids. There were so many of them.

Could she really make a difference?

She remembered a story of the man throwing beached starfish into the water after a rough storm. When asked why he bothered because there were so many starfish that he couldn’t possibly save them all, he replied with “It made a difference to this one,” as he threw the starfish into the water and continued on his mission.

The End Result

The firm got on board with Rosa’s new mission. Her morale soared as investing in others rather than themselves made all the employees feel more satisfied. This isn’t unique to Rosa and her law firm - you can experience it too!

Altruistic behavior is proven to release endorphins and make people feel happier. In the book Happy Money, authors Michael Norton and Elizabeth Dunn discuss the evidence that “prosocial behavior” among a company creates happier employees and therefore increases productivity and positive outcomes.

By helping complete strangers, Rosa and her law firm associates found that the level of happiness in their lives improved dramatically. What’s better yet is that you don’t need to spend a great deal of time or money to get this benefit - research shows that spending even a dollar on someone else makes a person feel more satisfied with their own life. Focusing on something outside yourself has real tangible benefits.

By shifting her mindset from advocating for herself (only) to giving generously to others, Rosa had drastically changed her mindset. She was consumed with these feel-good positive emotions, and was more productive at work and happier at home.

Improve Morale & Team Culture

Here are few ideas to chew on as you contemplate building a world-class company culture:

1. Sharing is Caring. Dedicate a specific day of the week to having your employees bring in an extra lunch or pick one up when they go out for lunch. The extra meals can be donated to the homeless in the area.
2. Give Back. Can you finance a local group of entrepreneurs who have an idea to clean up a local community? Can you hold community events that will bring hot food to those who need it once a month while also providing other support like skill based training? Can you (go green) and reduce your carbon footprint somehow?
3. Take a day off early from the grind once a month and visit a Boys & Girls Club, where you take the children new toys or hot food, books, or even new clothes.
4. Collect donations each month to help battered women who are trying to start new lives in the shadows of their abusers.