“If you tour any workplace, you will see countless logos and banners paying lip service to freedom of speech, democracy, logos like ‘speak up, speak out’, creativity, innovation, and on and on goes the list of flashy words and adjectives that companies and corporations want their employees (and outsiders) to believe are part of their work ethics and culture. Yet, most employees learn at the earliest stages of their careers that these bogus adjectives will get them fired, if they are naïve enough to believe in – let alone act on – them.” WorkIntegrityLaborAbuseControlAmerican CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CulturePower Relations Author:Louis Yako
“In reality, in most American companies, only few handpicked—arguably appointed— individuals in powerful positions; positions like leadership, finance, treasury, advisory, and so on, have the last say in what matters. Their words, no matter how nonsensical, are treated as the ultimate wisdom. Their silences are emulated by everyone else working under them, regardless of any human, capital, or ethical costs resulting from such silences. These powerful individuals are often so emotionally and intellectually abusive that employees treat even their most absurd suggestions as roadmaps dictating the direction of any company or project at hand.” FearWorkAmerican CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureWorkplace BiasLabor ActivismPower Relations Author:Louis Yako
“I have lost track of the number of times when I chatted with DEI professionals or even diversity hires of different races and backgrounds who painfully told me that they are put in a position that makes them incapable of making any meaningful changes in their workplace. That their job is primarily to be tokenized and make the institution look and feel good, but in reality they – and any diverse person in their workplace – feel totally paralyzed in environments that look good, but are in fact extremely controlled by the few privileged at the top. [From “The Trump Age: Critical Questions” published on CounterPunch on June 23, 2023]” DiversityEqualitySocial ChangeEquityDiversity And InclusionCorporate CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureTokenism Author:Louis Yako
“[M]ost American workplaces operate in ways that make it almost impossible for anyone to speak truth to power or challenge the status quo and be able to thrive or advance in their career. 'If you dare to open your mouth, you basically ruin your career,' is one of the most common lines I hear from people when I ask them about what usually stops them from saying or doing what they see as the right thing to do.” AmericaIntegrityLaborWork EthicAmerican CultureIntimidationWorkplace CultureWorkplace AttitudesLabor Activism Author:Louis Yako
“Millions of Americans have quietly and hopelessly concluded that paychecks and the freedom to be creative at American workplaces rarely – if ever – coexist.” FreedomIntegrityLaborAmerican CulturePaychecksWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureWorkplace Bias Author:Louis Yako
“Rocking the boat is the most un/anti-American trait one could bring to the table! Disturbing or challenging the status quo is disloyal. In this sense, ironically, success in most American workplaces often results in (or is at the expense of) human and intellectual failure.” SuccessFailureEthicsCorruptionAmerican CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace Culture Author:Louis Yako
“The hierarchy of most workplaces in America looks very much like climbing high mountains—the higher you get, the whiter the scenery becomes.” PowerRacismPrivilegeAmerican DreamColonialismWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureWealth AccumulationWorkplace BiasPower Relations Author:Louis Yako
“When asked, every other White privileged American—especially males—will tell you that their dream is to have their own company and brew their own beer! Ironically, their dream springs out of the total misery and toxic work environments they experience. Yet, instead of challenging and changing this reality for all, they dream of walking away and having their own company to repeat the same old game again.” FearChangeInjusticeAmerican DreamWork EthicWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureMidnset Author:Louis Yako
“[honest and talented American employees] spend so much time in mediocre meetings listening to superficial ideas presented by the powerful few at every workplace. Their hearts and minds are constantly agonizing as they see the mediocrity of the powerful few being praised by circles of cheerleaders found in most workplaces. The cheerleaders are usually there for the paycheck, and they do a great job in making mediocrity be mistaken for creativity and innovation.” CreativityLaborCorruptionAmerican CultureIntimidationPaychecksWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureWorkplace AttitudesCheerleaders Author:Louis Yako
“We need an uprising to guarantee that the bullies with unchecked and unlimited power and money do not continue getting away with abusing employees in most workplaces. We need a #MeToo movement for bullied and silenced American employees!” LaborUnionsBullyingIntimidationWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureEmployee RelationsEmployee Management Author:Louis Yako
“As a result, we now see a plethora of MBA-holders mushrooming in and infiltrating every sector, company and corporation, no matter how large or small. With rare exceptions, these MBA-holders hardly bring any creativity or depth to the table. For them, everything is about profits and building their own image and profile. They seldom care about the well-being and advancement of those who fall under the mercy of their business ideas. They are usually people who, like a herd of sheep, have been told that an MBA is the easiest and fastest route to prosperity and advancement, so they go to school, get that MBA, and from there wreak havoc in every place they set their foot on. With their mediocrity and strong desire to advance at any cost, their management styles often create a culture of fear and intimidation among employees. This culture is usually characterized by serious retaliation if anyone dares to open their mouth to challenge their authority or critique their ideas.” CreativityMediocrityManagement And LeadershipCorporate CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureManaging PeopleWorkplace BiasLabor Activism Author:Louis Yako
“In brief, anyone who has worked at one or two workplaces in America is familiar with that type of middle management or upper management individuals whose job is almost exclusively to create unnecessary tasks and procedures that turn the lives of employees under them into an absolute nightmare. What usually happens under such toxic circumstances? Nothing. A deafening silence from most employees. In fact, many employees not only remain silent out of fear of getting fired, they go as far as putting on fake smiles (or even loud laughter) to survive. Some walk around the office with the attitude of ‘I love my job!’ ‘I love my life!’ ‘I am living the dream!’ to please middle and upper management.” EthicsCorruptionAmerican CultureCorporate CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureWorkplace AttitudesCheerleadersLabor Activism Author:Louis Yako
“Just as most American employers give us ‘at will’ employments, our entire existence has become subject to their will. We have arrived at a point where most of our stress is a result of not knowing whether we will get the next paycheck. Exploitative employers love it this way. So long as we are afraid, they are sure to get 100 percent submission from us. We cannot let our toxic way of working be accepted as the norm and as the typical American work ethics. We deserve and can do much, much better than this.” JusticeLaborEqualityEmploymentWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureEmployee ExperienceEmployee Rights Author:Louis Yako
“Many mistakenly think that remaining silent until finding another job is the safest and least costly approach, only to find out once at a new job, that the same old game starts all over again. The reason for this is simple: there is no escape. The issue is not about a specific company or corporation, even though it is true that some of them are much more oppressive and unbearable than others. The reason why changing employers never solves the problem is because the problem is systematic, structural, and indeed cultural. The fact that this reality of toxic workplaces has been tolerated for so long has turned it into a normalized and acceptable culture. It is very dangerous when anything becomes an accepted culture or norm. This point is crucial to ponder if we want to resist and change this unhealthy culture. The toxicity of many workplaces in America has been so normalized that people do not even question them anymore. Also, predictably, over time, things normalized become moralized. By moralized I mean that this toxicity is now considered as a moral way of earning one’s living, despite much evidence that it’s at once unhealthy and demoralizing. It is considered moral to work hard to earn your living, and it has become accepted that work is simply what it is and there is nothing you can do about it.” PowerCapitalismLaborIntimidationToxic RelationshipsWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureEmployee RelationsEmployee ExperienceWorkplace Attitudes Author:Louis Yako
“[T]he dire need of millions of Americans to get a biweekly paycheck (and the need of having to shut one’s mouth to be paid) significantly contributes to destroying America’s potential for healthier and more inclusive workplaces, and indeed for a healthier society overall.” FearCreativityLaborCorporationsEmployee EngagementCorporate CultureWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureEmployee RelationsWorkplace Attitudes Author:Louis Yako
“No phrases are more commonly used in American English (and culture) than, ‘it is what it is,’ and ‘do what you gotta do!’ The first phrase indicates the acceptance of or resignation to a situation that cannot be changed. The second phrase is a way to say that you need to do what you need to do to take care of your problems. Yet, it is also well known in American culture that, no matter what, you must always ‘play it safe!’ This is precisely the problem we are dealing with—the fact that most people are suffering but also are advised to play it safe. Yet, are we safe? If we consider the mental, intellectual, and cultural costs that come with ‘playing it safe’, is anyone ever safe?” FearLaborCorporationsAmerican CultureIntimidationWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureEmployee RelationsWorkplace Attitudes Author:Louis Yako
“[W]e are the ones to blame for enabling and even nourishing the toxic workplaces. In continuing to cooperate with a profoundly unhealthy and exploitative employment system, we become at once the dagger and the wound. Wounds never heal so long as they continue to cooperate with daggers. In a sense, the cure is in the disease itself. Our silence is the disease. Our serious commitment for change and for exposing power abuses and bullies is the cure.” InspirationalWisdomHopeChangeActivismBullyingWork EthicWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace CultureSpeaking Truth To Power Author:Louis Yako
“Some try to tell themselves that they tried to make changes from within the system the best they could. Unfortunately, however, anyone who has had the chance of working inside brutal, unjust, and systematically racist and oppressive institutions knows that trying to make changes from within is not only a myth, but more likely than not, the huge, sophisticated and unjust institutions will change you to conform to their agenda rather than the other way around. At best, if one tries to make changes or challenges brutal workplaces, one would either lose their job, or – if lucky enough – would simply remain static and never advance in their job or pay. In other words, they will remain poor and powerless, which, by definition, significantly limits any possibility for challenging, let alone, changing such institutions or corporations from within.” InspirationalWisdomChangeMythActivismCorporationsDecolonizationWorkplace PoliticsWorkplace Culture Author:Louis Yako