Grin to win: Cut the negativity if you want to succeed at work
Sure, your company is laying off people faster than you can say “downsize,” that tax-cut bonus you assumed was yours is about as likely as a signing bonus from the Dodgers, and you’ve just been tasked with selling a product that no one has wanted — or needed — since the introduction of the 56k modem, but you’re working through it, right?
“I think one of the toughest things to do is to stay positive when things aren’t going too well at the office,” says Alison Weiner, a career consultant and personal coach based in Providence, Rhode Island. “The second you let up, the second you act like you’re upset or fed up, it’s going to cost you.”
Weiner says she tells her frustrated clients to compartmentalize the bad from the good, and to focus on the things that are working and ways they can fix the things that aren’t. “It’s easier said than done,” she says, “but it’s imperative to remain honed in on your goal. When you start to waver, when you start to snap at people or turn inward and sit at your desk like you’re under a dark cloud, it’s going to affect your work, and it’s going to affect how others perceive you. And that perception, if negative, is going to hurt your chances of getting a raise, getting a promotion and keeping your job.”
Make a move
Michael Caldo, a 51-year-old insurance analyst in Edwardsville, Illinois, says he’s thankful he switched jobs a few years back when he noticed his at-work demeanor was always negative. “I spent a lot of time getting caught up in company gossip and office politics,” Caldo says. “That, and my company was really struggling. The days became a bit much. It was hard to stay positive, especially when the people that I used as a support network were slowly laid off.”
Caldo says he didn’t necessarily want to switch fields but knew he needed a change. “I actually moved from Oswego and took a position with a company downstate. I felt like I could do the same thing I was doing, but I needed a fresh start,” he says.
While it was tough to pull up his roots and move to a new location, Caldo says it was a key factor in changing his outlook on work and life. “Sometimes you need to just get up and go,” he says. “Sometimes, being upset or negative about things at work could be a sign of something more, like depression. I decided to sort of take a full look at everything in my life and talk to some people, and decided that I needed a complete change of scenery, and it’s really paid off.”
Weiner says most employees probably don’t make such bold decisions, even when they should. “If you’re constantly negative at work, you need to remove yourself from that situation,” she says. “You can go work for another company, or you can work for another industry, or you can move to another city, but the bottom line is, you need to get out of the situation that you currently in.”
Joseph Mareno, an executive coach in New Orleans who previously worked in HR for both Procter & Gamble and Allstate, says people who choose to stay in bad situations are “walking red flags” to others. “If I’m a manager and I’m tasked with reorganizing my department and deciding who stays, who goes, who gets a promotion and who keeps the job they have, I have to tell you that attitude goes a long way in my decision process,” says Mareno. “I’m not about to promote a person who is nothing but negative, knowing that his or her approach to the job will rub off on others. There’s no time for that. You promote the people who can bring you immediate results. You’ll be patient if they take a sensible and positive approach to the job, but if you see any signs of negativity and frustration, they’re out.”
Fake it?
So what’s a disgruntled employee to do? Go through the motions and smile? Pretend that everything is OK? Yes, says Weiner, at least to some degree. “You should never deny the cause or source of your angst, but when you have a job to do, you have to set that aside to do the job,” she says. “You don’t have to be a cheerleader for a company and respond with a bunch of exclamation points to every email and be the person who’s always getting everybody all psyched up for the next big project, but you shouldn’t be the person sitting at your desk with your head buried in your computer either. It’s not necessarily about faking it. It’s about being professional.”
Professional people don’t act like they’re constantly upset around their co-workers, Weiner says. “That’s a bad employee. That’s a person who is going to get fired if they don’t fix their approach to their job,” she says.
Mareno agrees. “It sounds so basic to say ‘get over it.’ If you’re truly upset about your job and really hate going to work each day, it’s on you to make a change,” he says. “If you’re going to accept the paycheck, though, you’re accepting the responsibility to be a decent person and to approach your job with a positive attitude.”