Bridging the Gap
If you are interested in learning about “Psychology at Work,” there are generally two paths you encounter:
1) LinkedIn Leadership Bros (even the women are Bros in this space) who can regurgitate studies and metrics about productivity and other corporate buzzwords while completely disregarding the truth of their own experience (women are looked over for leadership roles, everyone hates their job, and the work economy thrives on exploitation). And AI. SO much AI (*heavy eyeroll*).
OR
2) You drop the “At work” requirement and start to apply general psychology theories (clinical counseling, parenting, education) to the workplace, achieving mixed results which depend on your ability to read social cues and the patience of your co-workers. You can only label somebody “Anxious-Avoidant” using your inside voice, ok?
The problem with the former is that we are all. So. Over. IT! We’ve all heard the same “Rise and Grind” bullsh*t for YEARS at this point and by now we know that success requires a whole lot of privilege, a healthy dose of luck, and maybe some competence.* No amount of rising and grinding can make up for a failing social safety net, systemic economic downturn, and-checks notes- what do you MEAN healthcare is attached to employment?! The capitalist system is designed for exploitation and only the very lucky, very few do not ever have to experience life in its unforgiving shadow.
And while you might go into the latter with the best of intentions… clinical psychologists do a lot of things (school, licensing, deep sighing) to become clinical psychologists and those who are not clinical psychologists need to stay in their lane, especially at work. Jim in accounting does not need his co-worker to tell him about the hallmarks of codependent relationships. But really, because capitalism makes everything worse, the reason home psychology doesn’t belong in the workplace is because somebody somewhere in some way will exploit it. It’s the old “this team is like my family” schtick that tries to use misplaced loyalty instead of a living wage to keep employees working.
But here’s the thing, humans are deeply feeling beings. That part of us does not check out Severence style when we clock in. Despite what we’re told about being logical and rational, any decision made without considering the emotions of the people involved is ill-informed. Emotions aren’t facts, sure. But emotions are information and leaders who do not acknowledge the emotions in the room (including their own) are going to fail. Every time.
This is where I come in. I can help you walk the line of leveraging the emotions of your employees without exploiting them to create win-win situations for everyone. You get a car (productive employees)! You get a car (effective communication among team members)! You all get a car (a healthy and safe workplace culture that doesn’t make you want to cry on Sunday night)!
*Unless your name is Luke and you were hired by your dudebro into an SVP role, where you get to bring your other bros along for the rampant-sexual-harassment-with-limited-results ride. In that case, no competence required!