When Negativity Leads the Team: What It’s Costing Your Company

And we're here with Debbie Longo who is a corporate

skills behavior coach with over 24 years of experience

helping executives and business owners boost

their profits by transforming the way their teams

work and today in today's episode we're diving

into the toxic impact of negativity in the workplace

which includes how it spreads why it matters

and how shifting to a culture of positivity.

can truly save a business because, according

to Debbie, negativity left unchecked doesn't

just hurt morale. It can destroy performance

and even be the downfall of a company. So with

Ms. Debbie Longo's help, let's talk about how

to turn that around. Ms. Debbie, glad to be speaking

with you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

I appreciate you too. And so, as far as us getting

a handle on who you are and how you can help,

what do we leave out of that bio? What are you

all about? What's your current passion and focus?

I've been in this business for 24 years and I

have experience in a lot of different types of

coaching. After COVID, there were so many issues

with companies losing money. Going out of business

because they didn't know what to do and they

were losing profits and they just lost all their

money. And then they file bankruptcy and that

wasn't good enough. They had to just completely

go out of business. When I saw that I said to

myself, I know there's a lot of things that I

can do to help companies because these companies

did not have to go out of business, but The way

i teach it is it doesn't matter what's going

on in my environment it doesn't matter what's

going on in the world is the same attitude is

everything. If i can do that and i can succeed

at that whatever is going on in my own environment

outside of me. As no issue at all and regardless

of all of that my company will act. normal and

have their profits and do everything that they

would normally do whether they're outside forces

are not. And that's really the whole object to

this. I like it focusing on what you can control

and you think about the silliness that happens

when you don't adhere to that like you mentioned

the pandemic a little bit remember when that

was like a day when that sort of started and

you went to the store and everyone was buying

toilet paper not because. of a shortage of toilet

paper because of the rumor, which then led to

panic buying, which then led to the actual creation

of that shortage. And you figure that was quite

a metaphor for just kind of the chaos that ensues

when you escape those bad boundaries. When you

say, hey, we're running this company. Here's

how we should run it and we should be logical

and think this through and act with integrity

and all those things. And so I know that you're

big on the people, on the behavior. And so starting

with the problem and us understanding it, what

are some of these common signs that negativity

is taking hold in a workplace and maybe even

signs that appear before the problem is obvious?

There are a lot. And we could talk for hours

just on this one question. But to really summarize

it is all of the attitudes and behaviors in the

company. Every single person from the CEO to

the janitors are negative and they can't handle

working there and they say negative things. They

argue with the boss all the time they always

try to take control. Over the workplace their

job duties what they need to do they'll say they

can't do it they'll just say. Tons and tons of

negativity all around and there's a saying what

goes around comes around so if i act like that

in the workplace then everybody's gonna see that.

Everybody's gonna act like that so that will

literally infect the workplace and then it gets

to a point where nobody can do anything to help

because it's over the top. They have been companies

where the CEOs have fired their entire workforce.

All at one time and they literally had to start

over because the problems and all the issues

and everything was so bad that it doesn't matter

who you bring in it's not gonna help. And the

object is not to get to that point. And if positive,

then the same thing that's going to affect everybody.

So that's one big thing. The other thing is that.

So not only will people do it and then other

people influence other people, they're going

to see it. Well, you'll have little signs like

all of these things that I just said. But once

the CEO notices that that's the time. to do something

about it early on when it can be fixed the employees

really gonna do anything about it. I mean they

might they might not but they're just an employee

there is ceo and the business owner is the one

that's responsible for keeping the business afloat.

That's the bottom line so that's really who we're

focusing but. We want the ceos to be successful

for their company to be successful so they can

maximize their profits and sales. I like it and

your contagion analogy makes a lot of sense if

there's a virus or there's cancer you think that

there's the early stages or something can be

done but then when it's spread when it's everywhere

and with the workplace is filled with that negativity

and it's everywhere you look and it's you even

just being around that. How to make you join

in on it then you have to imagine that the good

people the positive people will be forced out

or leave or you bring in a few new people in

and they're outnumbered by all of the. Bad stuff

so it makes sense how sometimes the leadership

lays off the entire staff because sometimes there's

no fixing except for starting from scratch and

so this is a really important problem for us

to be focusing on but then sometimes it's tough.

To care right about how will this affect the

results the outcomes those good old profits and

so can you tell us about maybe the really bad

things that happen if this is left unchecked

this unchecked negativity how does it impact

leadership team morale and company profits. If

a CEO or a manager or an executive. Give orders.

Or. tries to enforce an employee's job duties.

And the employee says, I can't do it. And then

maybe the manager or executive gives them some

extra work and expects them to insert that work

into their normal day. And the first thing that

the employee says is, I don't have time for this

today. When they can easily do it it's a little

bit of extra work it's no big deal. So they are

constantly telling the bosses that they cannot

listen to them they cannot do what the bosses

are asking them to do and that is difficult for

company to operate like that. We need to find

ways that to help the boss or executive whoever

to. Allow to help the company to function because

the boss's job is to tell the employees basically

what to do or what their job is or to enforce

their job duties. But if the employees are so

negative where they just say they can't do it,

they can't do it. Then that's just going to bring

the company down and then also gossip coffee

clutch with the water cooler. That is also very

infectious to and then gossip is one person tells

another person. But then that person doesn't

keep it a secret then they go and they tell another

person and then there's the telephone game i

like all these things. Where one person says

something and then by the time it gets to the

tenth person is a completely different story.

If it gets to the boss. And if it's about the

boss or about the company, which there's a very

good chance it could be, then you could start

firing people. So it can get really, really serious.

And then also the way I act at home is the way

I act at work. And the way I act at work is the

way I act at home. So it goes both ways. So that's

the whole thing. And I don't want to be able

to. bring negativity into the workplace. It really

depends on the situation because there's a lot

of different situations. Of course, and I'd love

to get into some of those situations with you

in a moment, but just to properly digest what

you said, you said a lot of amazing things. It

seems like a lot of it comes down to your habits

and your simplicity in the way that you function.

It is hard to unlearn some of these things that

the water cooler gossip and. This habit is saying

no and I can't do it and I'll do just enough.

And it is tough to unlearn those bad behaviors,

especially because nobody wants to be that one

overachiever. And then everyone else is doing

the very minimum. You're thinking, why am I working

myself so hard? And everyone else is having it

really easy. And then this whole idea of then

you end up just driving yourself crazy, right?

And thinking too hard and working too hard. And

if we just say, hey, here's what I'm about. Here

are my boundaries here are the rules i abide

by i've definitely been in situations where.

I before i knew better i would kind of try to

gossip with like one person in particular and

he just wouldn't even engage would name respond

and i tried being a little more big and he wasn't

about that. He was about solutions and positivity

and getting it done and how can we be productive?

And as you and I said right before we recorded

that you'll make a book about this someday because

you've seen so many things. You've been in so

many situations. And what do you think is valid

or appropriate or timely for our conversation

here? Can you share a story or an example where

a negative workplace culture was turned around

successfully? There's one Issue also i should

say about respect. So if the manager or the executive.

Respects the employee then the employee is gonna

respect the manager and vice versa. Let's say

for example lunch is always at twelve o 'clock.

And then the manager says. Extra work this morning

and lunch is gonna be at one o 'clock now it's

not gonna be twelve o 'clock anymore. The employee

doesn't like that. The employee says, I'm not

going to accept that lunch is going to be at

12 o 'clock because I have to eat my lunch and

you know, I'm hungry and my energy level is low.

And I could get this done in the afternoon. Like

do you need it in the morning? You need it at

the end of the day. You don't need it right the

second. So the manager is just being a little

bit controlling. So now the employee is sticking

up for themselves and the employee is saying,

this is the time that we agreed. When I first

started working here, we signed the contract

or we made a verbal agreement that lunch is going

to be at 12 o 'clock. And that's when I'm going

to go. And that's it. It's not like an urgent

thing. The manager says, you can go to lunch

at 12 o 'clock. Now the manager knows that he

cannot control that employee at all ever again.

And now guess what happens now as long as the

employee gives respect back to the manager when

he asked her to do something she does it. As

long as she does that then the employee now gets

whatever she wants because now the boss respects

the employee so if she wants a day off. Or if

she's on a vacation and she wants extra time

at the end of the vacation or she has to go to

home early to pick up our kids from school or

something like that. The boss would say yes,

because now the boss respects her. And that is

a way that's just one example, but that's a way.

And that's a big thing, believe it or not. What

to do what the boss tells them even though they

know that it's wrong. They know that they're

going to get upset that they're not going to

be respected because they think that the boss

is going to fire them. What it's the other way

around. The boss is not going to fire them. If

they stick up for themselves and they say what

they feel and what they need to say, the boss

is not going to fire them. Instead, the boss

will. appreciate them and give them respect.

And people lose six figure jobs over this. They

get a resentment and the boss gets a resentment.

And then they say, oh, something happened and

you're going to have to leave. And we'll just

call it that. We won't fire you. You're just

going to have to leave. You're going to have

to walk out and that's it and never come back.

And it doesn't have to be all because they're

not knowledgeable enough to know this one simple

fact. Yes, which is that respect is a two -way

street, and it seems like they're just a need

to think these things through, right? As you're

explaining this in my head, there's like there's

two buckets. There's the positivity and the negativity

and the negativity is maybe what comes naturally

if you're not careful, right? There's the resentments.

There's. their revenge, there's the keeping score,

all these things that we've all seen it happen

in this workplace. And it is logical to say,

hey, I don't want that. I don't want to experience

that. I don't want to be a part of that. And

then what you're mentioning is that that good

bucket of it sounds like leadership and responsibility

and empathy and wanting to make things right

and being careful about other people who do have

needs and emotions. And so as far as this this

realm of leadership that we're talking about.

What role would you say leaders play in fueling

or fixing the toxic energy at work? They need

a coach. They need somebody that's going to show

them what to do, that's going to train them and

help them. Because here's the thing, if they

knew how to do it, they wouldn't have gotten

to this point. So they need some type of help

somewhere. Coaches are great and they help very

large companies all the time. Very successful

companies, Microsoft, Apple, these companies

all have coaches, all different types of things

that help the employee's behavior, morale. And

that's why this type of work is so extremely

important because people don't know what coaching

is, and they don't know what this is about and

they don't know how they can help. So like I

said, it's going to get to this point and I'm

just going to have to fire a whole bunch of people

and just get all new people. And what's going

to happen then? Well, the behavior is going to

stay the same. It's not going to be any different

because the boss's behavior didn't change. This

is just natural stuff. This is just what we do,

the way that we act. But the point is that we

can change it that's the whole thing and people

don't know. They're uneducated they don't know

that they can change it and once they learn that

then they could see that this is really helping

and then they'll always be successful because

then they carry that through their whole entire

life. Wherever they work whatever they do what

doesn't matter outside forces don't matter. they

will literally carry this behavior this attitude

through. All of their jobs their home everywhere

they go everything is gonna be a lot better some

people like a hard life some people like a life

where they're always arguing and getting upset

but some people don't want that some people want

to change and that's just completely up to the

person if they like a hard life. And they wanna

always run into problems then that's fine with

me that's up to them that's their decision not

mine. I'm interested in helping people who want

to change them their workplace. And that will

help to help the company in a million different

ways and in the end that's gonna not only increase

sales and profits but the company will be skyrocketed.

Totally into another dimension way beyond all

the other companies in the industry and nobody's

gonna know what's going on but they're gonna

know exactly what's up. Very nice talk about

this idea of some people look like a hard life

for a hard workplace and there's the same choose

your heart where you can say well i'm not going

to focus at all on the root cause i'll just treat

the symptoms and i'll just always be working

on that or i can change my behavior and change

the way i go about it like you think about how.

The average person that goes on a diet gains

back the weight and more but then this time without

the muscle mass they lost the muscle mass during

the diet and now they're even heavier you think

about the average lottery winner is. Broker them

before they won the lottery or dead from compared

to years ago because they didn't change the behavior

they got a stroke of luck but then they still

acted the same old way and i imagine that. This

is similar in the workplace and i love what you're

saying here if you change some of these things

it'll carry out to other aspects of your life

in a ripple out to your personal life your family

life in other jobs and careers you have them

it will also be these transferable skills and

so it's great you and i have swam through all

this negativity and felt a little bad about like

this and that can happen but now we're on the

upswing right now we're talking about what changes

possible so as far as those steps. What are the

first three steps that any company can take today

to start shifting from negative to a more positive,

productive culture? They can do a little audit.

They're the manager, the executive. They know

everything about their company. They know how

they operate. They know their employees. They

know everybody's personality. They know what

employees are doing and what they're not doing.

They can make an outline for themselves about

what they need to improve and what's good. So

they could make, take a piece of paper, draw

a line down the middle, positive and negative,

and write all the things that they think are

negative in their workplace. Everything they

see, just go about a normal day. And then at

the end of the day, write down everything they

see that day that's negative and write down everything

they see. That day that's positive and they can

actually do that every single day that's just

one thing. There's a lot of things they can do

they could make goals they can make weekly goals

daily goals for their employees. That will help

the employees to get motivated by the thing is

most of those things it's nice to do those things

but we want to give them a permanent solution.

where this is not something that is just gonna

help them in one situation because these same

situations are gonna keep coming up unless they

fix the problem they realize what's going on

to get rid of the negativity the negative part

of that problem or issue and change it to a positive

now they've learned the lesson but if they don't

do that then that thing. That issue that problem

whatever it is is gonna keep coming up again

and again and that is one of the things that

so toxic so it's like banging your head against

the wall. That hurts so much. That you just wanna

like take a hammer and start banging your foot

and then you'll forget about the pain in your

head. So it's it's real insanity but that's really

a fact and that's what many companies do. They're

so used to losing money and then they're stuck

and then everybody loses money. And then what

if they can't pay their bills? They have companies

going to go bankrupt. That's going to be the

first problem. They got too used to the misery.

It sounds like right. Just settling too much

and saying, oh, well, this problem. Well, it's

not too bad yet. Oh, we have a few bad apples

in the workplace. And you're saying, well. fix

the problem before becomes bigger before becomes

unmanageable so i love what you're saying here

you're saying to draw that vertical line on a

piece of paper and write down what. What do I

see that's negative? What do I see that's positive?

And then also, what are my goals? And then to

work on identifying the toxicity and that way

what problem that there is to be solved. And

in a moment here, I want to make sure that we

mention you and the services you provide because

we mentioned a lot of things here and people

do need help. Book learning and podcast learning

is a great start, but nothing beats, as you said

earlier, having a coach, having a real life person

to jump in and help out. But before we get to

all that, I want to make sure that we cover all

the bases. And as far as anything you think that

is left out of our conversation, do you think

could there be a missing hidden question about

all of this that we're discussing that I should

be asking you? I just don't know to ask you.

Really, the only thing that I could think of

that would Really be the end shocker to this.

Every executive on this earth, every boss knows

everything I just said for the past 27 minutes

and they know it 100%. But to know something

and to take action, to take it from your brain

to your hands. That's a completely different

thing. So what is stopping you from actually

taking action? And that's something that everybody

should be thinking about. We're talking about

business owners. So because we're talking about

the workplace. So think about what's stopping

you from taking action. And are you used to your

company declining? Because if you are, then you

most likely are not going to take action. I believe

that everybody every single executive owner knows.

That there are all these problems and issues

and their company is going down because of it

and they know that there is a solution. They

know that it doesn't have to be this way. For

a million reasons they don't take action. That's

a very big problem and covid is an example of

that. Right and whatever you have these economic

upheavals right kovid recession or whatever.

Happens things up right and it brings a lot of

things like that maybe should have been dealt

with long ago it weeds out the week companies

and if something has been shaken up then maybe

it's a chance to say hey now be aware of this

problem and there is still time to turn this

around and not be so used to that slow decline

if you think about. Why haven't I implemented

this, Debbie? You think, well, maybe I didn't

think it was a priority. I gave myself some excuses.

I didn't believe I could solve the problem. I

didn't have the right people on my team helping

me with this. And there's a million reasons.

A lot of them just can be dealt with. We deal

with the problems and we start making progress

on this kind of thing. And how can we make progress?

So someone said, I agree with everything Debbie

said. I know something needs to happen. For some

reason, the change hasn't occurred yet. With

Debbie's help, it can. So what are some of those

next steps? Where should someone go? How can

someone get in touch with you? My website, social

media, there's a lot of places for them to get

in touch with me. But what I offer them is free

from the time that they listen to this podcast

until the time that they have a whole entire

program detailed what we're going to do. Every

single day, what their issue is, how to solve

it. All of that is free. And then I give it to

them and then that's their decision. Whether

they want to take action or not after they have

all this information. And I'm not charging for

that because I want to educate people for them

to see what is going on. And it's not necessarily

a problem. It's just things are happening. So

they don't know so now they'll know because i'm

not only my gonna explain it i'm gonna exactly

show them in detail what is going to happen.

And what will happen so they kinda like have

to work on blind faith a little bit because they

don't know that it's gonna work but that's just

the way it is and even when you run a business

you take chances to me that's part of being successful

in the business if you're not willing to. make

advancements and take chances and spend money,

then a lot of times to me that's just part of

the business. So they will know by the time they're

ready to take action 100%. Of course, you take

calculated risks in business and you do little

micro commitments. That way it's not so overwhelming.

So micro commitment number one is listening to

this podcast and we're near the end. And that

was easy enough. I'm concerned about this idea.

workplace negativity in the toxic culture and

i've heard a lot that helped me and press me

from debbie and the next step is to go to life

in bloom and why dot net that's another micro

commitment you go there and you click a button

that says book a strategy call and you just meet

with debbie and she said no pressure no commitment

you going me you have this conversation and you

express some of these ideas and so many times

it helps to just talk to this. neutral third

party. You complain to your family about the

workplace culture. They don't care about it.

You tell employees or your boss, you're worried

you got fired. You're worried about the gossip

train starting. So you talk to someone like Debbie,

who knows this, who eats, breathe and sleeps

this stuff and loves it. And she's all about

empowering your workforce. She offers these transformative

coaching services where you can just get this

new fresh perspective and take new different

actions. And you can unlock your team's potential,

and transform skills and behaviors for workplace

success. That website you mentioned is lifeinbloomny

.net. And that is Debbie Longo we've been speaking

to. Last name L -O -N -G -O. Her phone number

is 321 -270 -8713. If you're a phone person,

your email is info at lifeinbloomny .net. ny

.net. And you mentioned social media there, Debbie.

Is there a preferred, are you like, YouTube,

Instagram, Facebook person? Where do you prefer

someone to contact you on social? All Facebook

is fine. Fair enough. And so we can find those

comments on the bottom of life in bloomny .net.

And if you were as impressed with Debbie's experience

and stories here today as I was, you need to

book that call because Debbie has many fulfilling

career examples. You can create a happy and positive

workplace by initiating a culture of trust, inclusivity,

and appreciation. You can prioritize open communication,

recognize employee contributions, and promote

a work -life balance. We've been alluding to

that and touching on that in many aspects of

our conversation today. So that is Life in Bloom

NY .net. Go there, click the button to book a

strategy call. Thank you for being here, Debbie.

educating us, helping us out, telling us what

we should stop doing, what we should start doing.

I really appreciate you being here and delivering

these insights. So thank you. Thank you very

much. I really appreciate it.