Human interaction is never flawless. Even the best relationships
produce tension and at times, unpleasant emotions. Since
organizations are comprised of people, all organizations generate
emotional pain as part of the process of doing business: producing
new products on tight deadlines, setting benchmarks for
performance, creating budgets, crafting company policies, and so
on. Getting the job done is rarely painless. But when emotional
pain goes unmanaged or is poorly handled, it can negatively affect
both employees and the bottom line - in essence, it becomes
toxic.
Peter Frost argues that the way an organization responds to pain
determines whether it remains toxic or becomes generative, whether
it endures as a debilitating poison or is transformed into a force
for healthy organizations. According to Frost, when ignored, toxic
emotions betray employees' hopes, bruise their egos, reduce their
enthusiasm for work, and diminish their sense of connectedness to
their company's community and goals. Compassionate responses to
pain, on the other hand, encourage those who are suffering to
effect constructive changes in their work lives.
Despite their powerful role in employee performance, toxic
emotions are rarely addressed by organizations. Instead, most
companies respond to pain informally and unconsciously through
self-selected individuals whom Frost calls 'toxin handlers'.
Typically a senior manager or someone with a high emotional
intelligence capacity, toxin handlers soften the blow of emotional
pain for others, but over the course of time, absorb much of the
pain they handle to their own detriment. They are often
unrecognised, unrewarded, and poorly supported by their
organizations. And, while they often provide a temporary relief
from the symptoms of toxic organizational pain, toxin handlers
alone are unable to eradicate toxic emotions for the long-term.
"Toxic Emotions at Work and What to Do About Them" suggests that
handling toxic emotions effectively is an important, though
unrecognised set of competencies that must be understood and
embraced - not only by toxin handlers, but by leaders, managers,
and the organization as a whole. Through rich examples of how
individuals and organizations have managed emotional pain
successfully, Frost describes the key skills necessary to cope with
emotional pain and to manage it effectively, and offers concrete
courses of action for organizations to institutionalize compassion
in the face of emotional pain.
PUBLICATION DATE: Apr 2007
| Product Code |
Description |
Attributes |
Price |
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| 9781422102855 |
Toxic Emotions at Work |
|
$35.00
|
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