A Victimhood Attitude

By Sondra Whitt

Speaker, author and consultant Dr. Alan Weiss had an interesting piece in his newsletter Balancing Act that reminded me of a conversation I recently had with a client. “John” was insisting that his boss “held him back” and was the reason he was stuck where he was, doing what he was doing. Here’s what Weiss had to say about that kind of attitude …

“Part of victimhood is believing (or merely claiming) that the job, the boss, the environment, the government, the regulations, and/or “they” are preventing you from doing well. The antithesis of victimhood is the belief that you can improve your own job and lot despite interference and influence of others. We control more than we think.

I think this individual pride, and its ability to transform work and relationships, is a crucial consideration in terms of who we hire, who we become friendly with, and with whom we decide to surround ourselves. If we hang out with people who hate the work, hate the customers, hate life, and feel constantly oppressed, we’ll find ourselves subsumed in that quagmire.

But if we surround ourselves with people who merely believe that they have the power and responsibility to do the best they can, so will we.”