Friday, December 2, 2011

In Followership: Don’t get brought down by backstabbers

If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and you’re loyal to the organization then backstabbers can’t hurt you too much.  There are always going to be people that are opposed to you or what you’re trying to do.  They may not realize that that’s what they’re doing.    Sometimes people will set you up for failure by mentioning something you may have said to the wrong person.  Not all backstabbing is intentional, but it happens all the same.  The thing about working with people in an organization that you’re not in charge of is you will most likely end up being competition instead of a fellow laborer in the mission at hand.  We all, at one point or another, look at our coworkers or peers in whatever organization that we’re in as competition.  This is natural.  So we all, at one point or another, do something that can be perceived as throwing somebody under the bus or backstabbing, even if we were just trying to cover up something that we may have said or done.
We cannot let this type of stuff get us down, for the simple fact that most of the time it’s unintentional, and even when it is intentional, what can you really do about it.  We should be focused on how we carry ourselves around our peers and what we say so that when there is a misunderstanding or something is said about us to our boss that it isn’t true.  For example one time at work somebody told my boss that I was lazy because I didn’t do something that wasn’t in my job description nor was it something that I had training on.  I was upset at first but when it was brought to my attention, I was able to pass along the truth of the matter.  I didn’t go start an argument, and I didn’t let it bother me to the point that it would create any tension in the workplace.  I just let it go.  These things happen; we cannot let them affect our performance or attitude at work.  We need to just let it go, learn from it but let it go.
 I say let it go because these situations will occur more frequently throughout our career than we would like.  We can’t get upset and allow ourselves to be stressed every time it happens.  Instead we should use it as a learning experience.  We learn by knowing who not to talk to about certain things, who to speak with on a strictly professional basis, who to stay away from…etc.  Every time I feel betrayed by somebody I have to take a step back and replay the whole situation.  Usually it’s innocent.  Most people don’t realize what they’ve said could bring negative consequences to somebody else, or we don’t say “please don’t repeat this but” things just have a way of getting away from us.  As I said, we’ve done it to others just as they’ve done it to us.  We shouldn’t feel betrayed.  A part of being a follower is maintaining a certain level of discipline no matter what comes our way.  We are not the organization, but a part of the organization, we are not in charge but subordinate to somebody else.  So for us to cause tension or make a scene because we feel betrayed is disrespecting the organization and the people that are leading us. 
In the Bible God says that what you do to the least of these you do to me, and what you don’t do to the least of these you don’t do to me.  It’s the same in an organization, if somebody lies on you then they’re lying on the organization, but if they are pointing out a flaw then that’s a flaw in the organization.  We cannot carry ourselves as an individual when involved in something bigger than ourselves.  We must see the bigger picture always.  If somebody went behind our back and it was true then that is good for the collective.  I know this is easier said than done, and I probably wouldn’t want to look at it this way if I was the person going through this.  But it is a lesson that we must learn.  We were hired to do a specific role in an organization with a certain vision.  If we can’t live up to the role or if it comes out that we’re not living up to the role then the part that we play is in jeopardy of failing, which completely contradicts the purpose of us being there.  This must be exposed, so that the problem can be fixed.  We can’t take it personally. 
The only thing we can do to combat this is to be blameless.  As I said we must do what we know to do so that if somebody stabs us in the back we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing and it shows.  We as followers need to always have proof that we’re doing our job to the standard that was established prior to us showing up, or even at a higher standard than was established.  We must make ourselves a valuable part of our organization so that if somebody says something bad about us, it’ll be looked at by our leaders as a misunderstanding instead of a fact.  We need to remove any future doubt by our present work. 

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