Posturing 101

1.   Posturing

Verb

Behave in a way that is intended to impress or mislead others.

Adopt (an attitude) to impress or mislead.

-      The Free Dictionary

The act of people posturing is a daily ritual in some establishments. It’s a frightening display of human neediness within a fluttering workplace environment. When the environment becomes unstable with rumors, layoffs, closings and uncertainty; the emotion of fear produces some strange twists in behavior patterns. Suddenly the competition to be important and publicized becomes top priority in the whirlwind to be noticed.

Those in fear of their jobs seek popularity and publicized moments above everything else. Their desire to earn mass attention is what triggers every act of good will, performance and achievement. Fear produces posturing of epic proportions within management and employees.

I find nothing wrong in attempting to stand-out in a crowd. But to continually push beyond the boundaries, posturing becomes an addiction for all the wrong reasons. Exemplary work is fabulous, but throwing everyone under the bus to achieve stardom cheapens the reason.

Doing good deeds doesn’t require extraordinary effort, nor does it have a need to boast. Posturing inflates the ego and is a narcissist’s best friend. It depreciates the value of co-workers or team effort; causes dissention and promotes the selfish, shameless promotion of self. The long term destruction produces a lack of trust and unfair objective view of others.

It’s easy to see who the most insecure people are within a company. There’s a difference between a sincere act of generosity and a piranha like feeding frenzy fighting to be noticed. The distorted view becomes an endless competition among a few. The reality is misleading; it’s outlandish, ridiculous and over-the-top.

At the heart of the problem is the workplace environment. When an organization is motivated by fear the results are negative. The system in place is unaccountable for its actions and results. Posturing is viewed as a bench mark of effectiveness and used to increase the culture uneasiness.

Companies operating in this mode don’t offer counseling, truth or comfort. It’s a cat and mouse game of control by state of fear. Longevity doesn’t bode well for organizations seeking long term stability by practicing fear mongering.

It’s not 1947 and using Gestapo type tactics ruins reputations!

When you see an unusual display of people posturing for their livelihoods chances are: the culture is the problem and at the root is fear.

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

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