Zoe Fragou

The balance in people’s inner identities fights toxic work cultures

The variety of the elements you self-identify with define your inner balance. It is a scientific fact, that you’ll be much happier if you just stop trying to be one dimensional and accept your own complexity. In fact, not just accept it, but aim to expand it.

Have you ever felt exhausted trying to live up to the expectations of a certain role? The good daughter or son, the friend who steps in to save the day, the reliable professional. Do you know what it’s like to have an identity crisis, the feeling that the whole world is collapsing because you lost your job or you failed at your pitch to your dream client?

It’s an understandable feeling, but it’s not a reality. If you’re in a crisis about who you really are, it’s likely because you haven’t embraced that you actually have multiple inner identities. You don’t just have one role/identity in this life. You have many. And by recognizing and nurturing your inner identities you become stronger, more resilient, more adaptable and more importantly more confident. Strong cultures are built by nurturing each individual’s inner identities. In order to avoid toxicity in your work environment and to build a healthy climate, you need to respect and enhance your people’s all inner identities.

I’m burned -out, you’ re burned- out, what’s that smell?

Who holds the responsibility when we experience burnout? Is it the management, our colleagues or us? Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. Most people don’t realize that they’re reaching burnout until something extreme happens to them and they hear the news from their coach. When we think of burnout, we typically think of people being very tired and taking a short leave from work. It’s actually messier than that.

Let me give you an example. When you take a day break to rest, how do you feel the following morning going to work? Revitalized or still exhausted? Now let me ask you again, when was the last time you felt truly energized and full of life? I think you get the point.

Our body is a complex system that needs to be treated with respect and care. We upgrade our software and change tires on our cars, nurture our plants with special fertilizers and give only the best pet food to our pets. But we don’t do the same for ourselves and our mental health. Burnout is our responsibility, but most people cannot tell they are burnout out, because it has become normalized. And let’s be honest, most people can’t cope (let alone afford) with having to say ‘no’ to their boss.

With “burnout” now officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the responsibility for managing is shifting away from the individual and towards the organization. So what can you as an individual do to protect yourself from burnout and what can you as an organization do to protect your most valuable asset, your people?

We’ve all been that other

When we talk about DEI and biases the truth is that we all know the data. What we don’t realize is the fact that we’re all prejudiced one way or another. Our past experiences develop our biases which are part of our innate defense mechanism. If you’ve been bitten by a dog when you were a toddler chances are that you don’t feel comfortable around dogs. This one experience of yours doesn’t shape the rules, but it forms your perception of reality and how you view the world around you.

We’ve all felt as being that “other” person – when we felt that we didn’t fit in in a social group, or we felt that we didn’t belong in a specific work environment or even when we had the complete opposite opinion on a matter than all the rest. To understand DEI, you first need to understand that we’ve all experienced inequality or simply not fitting in. The most important thing is to take those biases that we have and evaluate them, so as to see which of them truly are defense mechanisms and which of them are just perceptions that we’ve turned into stereotypes.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

In 1675, Isaac Newton remarked in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”. You’ve probably heard of the popular phrase ‘teamwork makes the dream work’. However, have you ever considered why teamwork is nowadays more important than ever before? Disruption is everywhere as we are currently evolving at the speed of light and this makes change no longer an option, but a mandatory skill set.

At the heart of any successful transformation program and of any healthy organization lies a fully functional, agile and collaborative team. Teamwork bonds people together, builds trust and allows them to rely on one another to get things done. Teamwork also enables progress and allows the group to overcome obstacles that would have frustrated an individual. Without teamwork, progress is simply not possible.