I love my job. I won’t even deny how much I love working at a library. I have some of the most amazing people as co-workers and bosses you could ever meet. Landing my job at John F Kennedy library was a dream come true, but the same cannot be said for the other places I’ve devoted my time to. I have sat on executive boards, I have been a captain of teams, and even an editor for a newspaper, and truthfully those were some of the most toxic environments I’ve ever had to work through.
When you’re assigned or signed up to do something, it becomes a job, unpaid or not, important or not. You do it, and you do it to the best of your ability. When you’re passed up for a work trip for someone whose best friends with the boss, what do you do? Even though you worked hard for it and the other person did nothing. Or you’re stuck dealing with catty women who do nothing but undermine your hard work and make you feel uncomfortable and alone whenever you must deal with them. What should you do? I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and it SUCKS!
Toxic work places are unavoidable, often, you can’t do anything about it unless you quit. Here are some ways to make the best of these places without losing yourself in the process.
Make friends. You shouldn’t have to suffer feeling alone and uncomfortable in the work place. If the work place is toxic, you probably won’t be the only one who feels this way, making friends can alleviate any lonely feelings you might have.
Focus on your work. A job is a job, as simple as that. You aren’t there to be best friends with everyone; therefore, you don’t need to concern yourself with what others are doing. Focus on you and your work, even if others in this environment will bring you down personally, don’t let it affect your work.
Speak up.Whenever you feel something is unfair, speak up and ask. Ask why you didn’t get selected for a work trip, ask why you did not get a raise. Always ask why YOU did not get something and never ask why someone else got whatever it is over you. Make sure your tone does not come off as complaining or negative.
Take it as a learning experience. I toughed a lot of my positions out, mostly. Even when I had no energy or motivation to want to go to an exec meeting and put up with cattiness and negativity, I had to understand that I wasn’t always going to work with the best people so it was better to learn from it than to run from it.
Don’t be afraid to quit. I’m not going to lie; I’ve quit all my positions. Not because I couldn’t take the heat, but my self-worth and dignity was worth so much more than having to deal with people who made me uncomfortable and did not value me and my work. I no longer wanted to put up with disrespect and being passed over because of favoritism. Quitting doesn’t make you invaluable or incapable, it shows that you valued yourself too much to work somewhere you are no longer benefiting from.
As much as I might have hated having to work with and for these people, I owe them a thank you. I learned a lot about myself and what I am worth because of these experiences. It’s helped me fight for my promotion at work and show my boss how valuable I am, and I couldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for the toxic environments I worked for.
-Kaylin.