February/March 2011

Negativity in the Workplace

How negative are you? Do you often go to work feeling resistant to new ideas and new ways to do things you have done before? Do you have a co-worker who complains and do you always listen to their complaints? Do you find yourself drained instead of energized by a good day’s work? If your answers are yes to the above questions, it might be a good idea to become aware of the negativity moving toward you.

Do you seek teamwork and peace in your workplace? Wishing to be Peace and God-Centered, we must have an awareness of what we unconsciously take in from outside us. When we are busy in “work-mode”, things come at us quickly and often without realization until one takes a moment for reflection. Bombarded with negativity in many forms from news broadcasts, email, newspapers, phone calls and each other, we can be blind to how it touches us.

Negativity slowly erodes our sense of possibility, replacing it with a fear-based story line. Our minds can rush into “protective mode” limiting what was before our sense of the infinite. The glass is no longer seen as half full, it is perceived as half-empty. The mind works quickly to access old pain reactions and related experiences sending forth their feelings to fuel this energy’s intensity. Even though past feelings are irrelevant to this situation, they add power to the negative message, increasing desire to share the story with someone else.

Someone who shares a negative story gets a sense of self or ego from being the one to relay it to others and so the negative energy continues. Unknowingly they set into action a chain of events that can bring an office from a place of productivity to a day of standstill! As a perfect storm, office negativity can brew in much the same way, causing winds and fallout greatly impeding an organization’s productivity.

Stated well by Gary Topchik, “Negativity is a virus that spreads rapidly from one person to another. Individuals may bring the virus to work or catch it from others in an organization. The negativity virus spreads quickly in a matter of days or weeks, and once transmitted, it is difficult to cure. The effects of negativity are devastating to any organization and can lead to increased turnover, lateness, absenteeism, customer complaints, errors, accidents, and illness, all resulting in deep bottom-line costs.”

Added to the above unfortunate effects to your organization, once the employee goes home he or she spreads the negativity to family. Manifesting mildly as a negative mood, it may explode into an argument with a spouse or a child. A person caught up in negativity has no space inside to listen with objectivity. Negativity expands inside them therefore much of what they hear takes on negative tone. There is even less room for openness or negotiation. A negative response is then given to a family member whose mind expands with this negativity, while off to work or school they go.

If new ideas are being introduced in the work place or school, one who is harboring negativity can be resistant. Their inner mind space is too filled with the negativity that has already expanded inside them. One becomes resistant to doing things a new way, or making adaptations and changes in their work or their behavior. As stated by Eckhart Tolle, “All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or another. All negativity is resistance. In this context, the two words are almost synonymous.”

Our work as human beings is to leave this world a better place, for the greater good. Each one of us can help to clear the air of negativity. How do we do this? Be aware of what is coming your way – and do not allow it to penetrate. Simply do not respond to negativity by sharing a negative story. Instead take a moment and see the flip side. Something is being suggested as a way to solve a problem at work? You have tried this technique before and it didn’t work? Feel the present moment as a new moment with its own sense of possibility and with acceptance, give it a try again!

In the spirit of Peace and becoming the change you wish to see in the world, one must first accept what already is. It is with this acceptance that you then have the positive energy or flexibility for change. Embracing change and flexibility gives your business a chance to succeed. Negativity ensures failure.

Negativity is a Psychic disease. It is contagious. It may come in the form of resistance to a new idea or resistance to what already is. Resistance stops all positive energy dead in its tracks, nor can it flow or change. The way of life and the way of God is the way of change and flow. Negativity is steps away from God, as negativity is resistance to flow.

In your workspace be Peace and be Present. Become aware of negativity for the sake of your own journey, and for those of your co-workers and the ones you love. We do not help the world by spreading negativity, and yet we can surely help the world by knowing it. See the flipside of negativity by shining a light of the present moment through your awareness – change the story and share it in a way of hopefulness and possibility. You will be helping your Self, helping your family and your workplace, as your positive gift to the world.

-Frannie Rose