The Right Side

Social engineering buzzwords have become sacred cows of academia, the media, and corporate America.  Words such as diversity, inclusion, equity, justice, and multiculturalism are no longer moral ideals to be striven for but have become verbal and institutional weapons against contrived enemies.  Who are these enemies? They are a diverse mixture of ideological beliefs, political affiliations, economic structures, religious associations, traditional values, the wrong skin color, or the wrong gender.  Diversity vocabulary is designed to force ideological compliance that has become the new feel-good religion of “wokeness.”

To be a “community organizer” today is no longer about helping a given community rise above some avoidable disservice or blatant discrimination.  It has delved into this misguided warfare against our society’s norms, values, and traditions. Community organizers and the use of “inclusive” language by those stated above have become, in a word, militant. 

Equity, a hallmark of this ideology, can never be achieved. Our populace is gifted with too many divergent talents, strengths, weaknesses, levels of IQ, education, body types, hopes, dreams, acuity, personality, backgrounds, and function.  This idea of equity then merely becomes an impotent and useless buzzword. The only way these wayward designers of a utopian society can ever hope to make equity work is to utilize disparate measures that do not elevate the underprivileged but rather diminish and take down actual achievers. Equity, in this sense, is unequivocally destructive and wrong, but it is the price that these partisans of disruption will gladly accept.  Why? Because their ideology is birthed out of envy and collective hate towards our political and economic structure as well as the social contract we have as American citizens. 

This “diversity” language may sound reasonable.  It may be sold as a moral high ground, and an ideal worth reaching, but at its core is a socialist ideology governed by feelings and powered by controlling speech.  Check me out on this. Challenge any of their tenants of faith, and you will be looking for a new job. 

I can’t help but remember the words spoken by Winston Churchill when describing this thing called socialism.  He said it was, “a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.  Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery”. 

Toxic bosses have always been an unfortunate reality in virtually every imaginable discipline since time memorial.  Who are these people, and why do they feel it is their right to disrupt an organization, to change its culture, to ruin vocational lives, to make life unbearable at work, to bully their way around the office, and to our amazement, get promoted all while leaving cringe-worthy destruction in their wake? 

Let me first say that not all managers/leaders are toxic.  There are some pretty good ones out there.  Oh yes, I’ve seen them!  Ok, that disclaimer is out of the way so let’s dig into these weird anomalies called toxic bosses. 

First, from the get-go I believe toxic bosses are narcissistic, ill-tempered, mean-spirited, brash, self-centered, crass, dishonorable, envious, and backbiting vessels of destruction.  I’m not saying that they aren’t redeemable, because they most certainly are.  What I am saying is that their present behavior is in direct opposition to a peaceful, productive, efficient, enjoyable, and profitable operation.   In other words, they make work a cesspool of anxiety for those around them. 

If that weren’t enough, these malcontents (sorry, but that is essentially what they are) somehow climb the corporate ladder and, by doing so, begin to infect the entire organization.  Honestly, we ask, how is this even possible with their track record of destruction?  The short answer is they get stuff done.  They don’t care about the “how.” They care about the outcome.  To executives who don’t have to live under the toxic bosses’ thumb, they are viewed as being highly productive, efficient, and effective.  They promote the company’s brand, help build ROI, and ultimately can say they have added value that increases revenue.   

Sometimes, thank God, executives see the harm inflicted by this person’s toxic and poisonous behavior.  My experience is that this is a slow and arduous process where, in the meantime, people continue to suffer through the bad boss’s tirades and self-serving goals.   

So, what is an employee to do when upper management or an executive committee member doesn’t, or refuses to acknowledge that they have a toxic manager/leader working for them? The short answer is that the employee must choose how to respond to this person.   That is their secret power.  A couple of pointers:

1. Pray for the boss.  Yes, as a Christian that would be my advice.  It breeds a kind and merciful heart and gives you some semblance of inner peace and control.   
2. Only worry about the things YOU can control.  If it’s out of your control…let it ride.  Don’t worry about it.  This frees up an awful lot of RAM space in the soul.
3. Update HR about this person’s toxicity.  HR may or may not act on it, but you have done your due diligence.
4. Finally, you may have to look for a new gig.  Your personal health and peaceful disposition may be in the balance.  It’s your life so do what is best for you.