The Impact of creating and sustaining a Positive Environment at Work

I always felt that being verbally abused has a strong impact on our brain. Recently, I have seen a podcast where Matei Georgescu, professor in psychology, talks about the effects of insults and offenses on the brain. As he simulates the way our brain reacts when we are being verbally abused, he suddenly starts looking grimaced and shriveled, then loses his foothold and falls down from the chair he sits on. He simply faints.?

I remember the story of a teenager girl who felt terrified by one of her teachers in high-school and fainted in front of the class as she was asked to come to the blackboard.??

Someone told me about a relative of hers, who died in her early 30’s as she had been verbally aggressed repeatedly by her husband, who used to call her stupid and other such names. The hidden cause was an aneurism she was living with, until that fatal day.?

Please answer yourself to this question: If you knew that yelling at someone or treating them badly could cause their death, would you still yell at them? Would you still like to treat them that way?

Maybe they won’t die in that moment, but your behavior would impact their emotional state, and that may cause them a car accident or some other sort of damage.

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People who are mean to others act that way because they have been treated in such a rude manner before and believe that their behavior would be normal. It is their normality. A toxic one.?

As Gabor Mate highlights in his book?The Myth of Normal - Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture, we each link “normality” to our personal life experiences - the way we have been raised by our parents and other relevant people around us, the cultural influences and behaviors we have been used to. Now, think about how different my parents were from yours or someone else’s, and as a result, how different our life experiences! So, what is “normal”? The point is we should show more understanding with each other.?

As I've worked closely with a wide range of people,?I discovered that most of those who are mean to others do not realize how much harm they cause around them. When they understand the impact, and the fact that their behavior drags themselves down, they might become open and willing to change it. Of course, this observation does not apply to everybody. I also met people who enjoyed being mean to others.?

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I would link this topic to leadership. Why? Because our cognitive performance is influenced by the level of stress we feel, and leaders need to be careful not to generate unnecessary stress. Yes, we need a moderate level of stress to take us out of the boring state and help us focus on what we have to deliver. But, when the level of stress reaches the highest point that we can each endure, our cognitive performance would rapidly decrease. From that point on, we have a hard time concentrating on the task, our performance and creativity decline rapidly, and we are prone to making mistakes.?

One of my coaching clients told me that as a result of a tough interaction with her direct manager, first time in the morning, her entire day had been “shut down”. Another client told me that after a tough discussion with one of his peers he suffered so deeply for a few days that he felt like he was not himself anymore.?

Since negative interactions can cause us so much harm and reduce our performance, what do you think would be the influence of good relationships at work? Just imagine that you are working in an environment where you can show your vulnerabilities without fearing of consequences, where you can ask for help when you need it, where you have the courage to admit you made a mistake, and where you are supported and encouraged by your colleagues.?

Now, multiply your increased performance with the number of your co-workers and add possible synergies that you might generate together. This would be the impact of creating and sustaining a positive environment at work.?

Would it be worth the try? Just take the first step and see the difference!??

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For more inspirational leadership stories join us at Wise Leadership Works - our 12 weeks modular learning program, dedicated to leaders who understand the importance of?continuous learning?and addressing all companies that are willing to invest in such leaders.

Find additional details here https://www.gabriela-elena-mech.com/#learn about this learning program developed together with my coaching partner, Ermil-Mihai Diaconescu, PCC

About the Author:

Gabriela Elena Dura (MECH) is a Self-Mastery & Leadership Coach?and?Book Author

Gabriela is actively designing and delivering dedicated long-range Programs on Self-Development and developing Leadership Skills, for those companies that are willing to bring satisfaction and performance to the benefit of both the company and their employees. She designed and delivered such programs for teams in top telecom companies, private schools, and production companies - with an impressive impact in terms of improving relationships, collaboration and increasing performance.

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