Don’t Let A “Misery Loves Company” Mindset Sabotage Your Career Success

MALIBU, Calif. - Feb. 17, 2015 - PRLog -- A bad boss breeds low morale, poor motivation, performance and productivity that usually produces grumbling and complaining among co-workers. Don’t fall into this “misery loves company” mindset or else your bad boss and your co-workers will sabotage your chances for a rewarding career, says Dr. Noelle Nelson, author of Got a Bad Boss? Work that Boss to Get What You Want at Work (Amazon eBook, $7.99).

         “A department afflicted with a bad boss is a sorry sight,” says Nelson. “It’s dismal and depressing. It can prevent your from rising to the top of the heap, and instead, you will be buried beneath it.”

         Nelson says employees who find themselves trying to deal with a bad boss as well as not being caught up in the office malaise, are up against a double whammy. “Not only do you have a bad boss, but everyone else in your department is suffering from the same unsupportive situation--and dragging you down with them,” says Nelson.

         Recent research (http://econweb.tamu.edu/mhoekstra/fitness.pdf) by Scott E. Carrell of the University of California-Davis shows that people may adopt the diet and exercise patterns of the least fit within a peer group. They don’t tend to emulate the most fit, rather they gravitate toward those who don’t make the grade. This is especially true of the lesser fit individuals.

         How does that apply to your bad boss situation? “If you don’t exert extra effort, you’ll be influenced by your equally unhappy co-workers to be even more unmotivated and unproductive than you already are,” explains Nelson.

         Nelson’s advice: “Don’t join in the water-cooler complaining sessions. Walk away. Instead, surround yourself with friends outside of the office who are happy and successful in their work. Always look for ways to succeed, to do your work more efficiently, to advance your skill set—anything to keep yourself on an upward career track. By doing so, you can counteract the ‘peer group effect.’ You’ll find, that no matter how bad work becomes or how often your bad boss throws a screaming fit, staying above the fray will help you step up the career ladder faster.”

         For tips on working with specific bad boss types, go to http://www.noellenelson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GotABadBoss or at https://twitter.com/GotABadBoss.