If I say:
* Work place paranoia * Control freakiness * Aggressiveness * Lack of trust * Refusal to change * Distorted perspective * Intellectual rigidity ...does it ring a bell?
These are but a few symptoms of what I call “workplace paranoia”.
As we grow in our working environment we are “doomed” to one day be confronted by such paranoid people. Whether it is your boss, your partner, your employee or your assistant, their problematic behavior will inevitably impact yours.
The official definition of paranoia from my favorite dictionary, Merriam-Webster, states that paranoia is “a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others”.
Of course, being skeptical and asking questions or even refusing to believe that a black wall is white does not mean you are paranoid!
Cases of work place paranoia:
* your boss never believes you when you have got to work from home because you are sick * your co-worker suspects you of wanting to take over his/her job no matter what you do, say or achieve * a business partner accuses you of spying upon his/her business * your assistant thinks you persecute him/her because you refuse to accept the low quality of his/her work * a fellow employee thinks you are ridiculing him/her behind his/her back * your boss accuses you of conspiring to take his/her seat It is true that the development of new technologies allows people to lie more easily than in the past. After all, you could be in Rome and claim you are in Moscow. Unless you are under close watch from the CIA and the FBI who are performing a triangular location procedure on you, nobody will ever know you lied about where you were.
The increasing pressure for always delivering more, the higher-level of unemployment, and the underlying economic crisis can explain how stressed-out employees can develop some level of paranoia.
What can its consequences be on a business?
* goals not reached by a team where paranoia is a common feeling. How can one get motivated in such an atmosphere? Almost impossible!
* if the paranoid person is a head of a group or an entrepreneur, the group/company will grow but will stall at one point (before reaching the big bucks stage) because of this inherent lack of trust.
* law suits can be launched against large corporations which can be accused of not reacting and letting paranoid treatments take place * illness from all sides of the equation: the “persecuted” and the others. This leads to a high level of absenteeism which in turn leads to a lower level of goal achievement.
Though at its highest level paranoia becomes a psychiatric pathology (usually coupled with psychosis and schizophrenia) it can totally remain a manageable ailment that should not prevent the paranoid person from performing, albeit lower than possible.
What can you do if you are confronted to such a behavior?:
* Quit. As a coach I like to say “let’s find a way” but there are draining situations when one is better off limiting his/her contact with such a pathology * Reduce your contact level: if this a person you interact with often (email, in person, phone), limit your communications to 30 minutes a day. During these 30 minutes you will take care of his/her emails, call him/her…basically focus on this person and achieve as much as you can. Once those 30 minutes are over, the rest will wait until tomorrow. This will help you keep you sanity.
* Seek support: from colleagues, friends, boss or even, if you work in a large corporation, an in-house physician/nurse * Do not try to convince the other person (or group of persons) that he/she/they are wrong as, indeed, this is a doomed attempt. Paranoid people usually do not accept the fact that their judgment is somewhat distorted and whatever you will tell them will only help them go deeper in their feeling (“if you are trying to convince me to think otherwise it means I am right and you are trying to deceive me”.)
* Build a thick skin: if you are stuck with this paranoid person, cannot quit, cannot limit your contacts…then build a thick skin. Start doing yoga to evacuate all the useless stress this is putting on your shoulders, visualize yourself in a positive work environment, avoid being alone with this person…but still…while you are building your thick skin, look elsewhere :o)
*Note: If you are a woman complaining about a paranoid co-worker you may be accused or treated as a hysterical person (thank you Dr. Freud!). Do not let this deter you from whatever actions you are willing to take.
To learn more about this author, visit Ava Rishtin's Website.
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