Manage your own Morale

by Price Pritchett

Somehow, over the years, we’ve been led to believe that higher management is accountable for employee morale. Nobody even seems to question this notion anymore. If attitudes go sour, the boss gets the blame. If employees are mentally down and out, the company is expected to provide emotional hand holding until its people are happy again.

We’ve got to get past a lot of this nonsense, because nobody is well served by this line of reasoning. Sure, the way the place is being run, and the way people get treated, are factors employees must reckon with. But let’s give the average individual a lot more credit for being able to manage his/her own morale. If we attribute more emotional self-sufficiency to people – is we expect ourselves to stand personally responsible for our attitudes – we’ll be much better off.

Saddling someone else with the job of keeping you contented and upbeat at work is a slick move. And it may even seem justified if we warp our logic a bit. After all, organizations actually do treat people unfairly at times. And some managers are jerks. But overall, employees don’t seem to deserve any higher marks for how they treat employers. And since the world at large displays no concept of “fairness” in the way it deals with organizations, sometimes companies are forces into corners. Higher management can end up having to do things that are hard for people to accept. This doesn’t mean that whoever is in charge should carry the burden of responsibility to pump you back up and give you a positive attitude.

If you put someone else in charge of your morale, you disempowered yourself. If you wait around for higher management to heal your wounded spirit, you’ll end up hurting longer than necessary.
You’re far better off to assign yourself personal responsibility for attitude control. Don’t let low morale drain away precious energy, destroy your self-confidence, or damage your attractiveness as a job candidate. Organizations want employees who can cope with change without breaking stride. So take charge of your moods. Act upbeat, and you start to feel better. Show resilience – bounce back on your own – rather than allowing yourself to wallow in negative emotions such as anger, depression or grief.

Sure, grieving over personal loss is natural. Sometimes, it’s a necessary part of the recovery process. But some people adopt it as a lifestyle, become martyrs, and lick their wounds for the rest of their careers. Frankly, giving in to grief has limited healing power, and you need to get beyond it.
Rapid organizational change guarantees us that almost everybody is going to carry some battle scars in the years to come. You can be bitter about how your careers get affected, or you can demonstrate your ability to take a punch. You can carry a grudge to your grave, or you can “get over it”.

What’s best for your career? Depersonalize the situation – accept it as the luck of the draw – and harbour no resentment toward higher management. Ideally, you’ll accept change as an exercise that, though sometimes painful, helps you build more emotional muscle.

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