GERALD STORCH, chiefexecutive officer of Toys-“R”Us, is facing the mon-umental task of turning

around the once leading-edge re-tailer that has been dethronedby discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target. In speakingwith a workforce that has been,according to The New YorkTimes, “badly shaken by its mis-fortunes,” Storch, a former topexecutive at Target Corp., uncov-ered an organizational dynamicthat he feels is undermining the

company’s chances for successif left unchanged. “He crusadesagainst what he calls the com-pany’s ‘victim culture,’ that is,

the pervasive mentality through-

65USA TODAY ★ MAY 2007

BUSINESS & FINANCE

STOP THEBELLYACHING

STOP THEBELLYACHING

BY JUNE A. HALPER

“Eradicating victimmindset and behavior isnot an overnight job. It

takes real fortitude on thepart of leaders toencourage candor,

create high levels ofaccountability, and holdthemselves to the same

standards as theiremployees.”

out the company which ‘blamed others for itsproblems rather than facing its own mis-takes.’” In outlining the many ways in whichToys“R”Us missed the boat, Storch’s bottom-line message to employees is, “We did it toourselves.”

The victim mentality is not unique to Toys-“R”Us. We all have worked with self-per-ceived victims. They either are griping con-stantly—they are overworked and underpaid;no one asks their opinion; the promotion theydeserved went to someone else; they could notmake their numbers because of the economy,the competition, other departments, etc.—orthey pretend that everything is fine, while hold-ing their resentment inside.

Taking responsibilityThese self-created victims are frustrated and

unhappy with aspects of their job or the com-pany they work for, but they rarely, if ever,voice their grievances in productive ways or tothose who can help. Forever disgruntled andgrumbling, they wallow in their martyrdom.Whether their grievances are realor, as Storch professes, imagined,such victims have one thing incommon: They refuse to take re-sponsibility for their situation andpersist in maintaining the mindsetthat nothing they can do willmake a difference, even if theyhave not ever tried. When they do“try,” they make half-hearted at-tempts that only reinforce theirbelief that trying yields little or noresult.

Victims exist in all types of or-ganizations and at all organiza-tional levels. They are an insidi-ous underground army that has ahuge negative impact on produc-tivity, the ability to compete, andmorale. There are more under-ground “victims” in the workplace than youmight imagine. To assess the extent of thismentality in various corporate cultures, Ilooked at a sample of data collected in the lastfive years from business teams in 12 Fortune1000 companies with which I have consulted.This sampling of 225 executives completed aquestionnaire prior to beginning team develop-ment sessions that we facilitated. Two of thesequestions—“What is the working atmospherewithin your team?” and “How are conflictswithin the team handled?”—address the victimproblem, as they deal with lack of candor andunresolved issues. Responses either will consti-tute high levels of performance or varying de-grees of covert or dysfunctional behavior. Theteams ranged from senior-level—the CEO andhis or her staff—down to director, manager,and professional levels. Some startling statis-tics emerged. On question one, 69% providednegative responses. On question two, 80% ofthe responses revealed problems. All told,three-quarters of all team members exhibited

degrees of underground behavior, ranging frommild to predominant, and failed to surface is-sues that existed between them and their peers.If you multiply the findings by the number oforganizations with which our other 17 consul-tants work, the quantity of “victims” that popu-late the workplace is astonishing.

Here are some written comments from theemployees surveyed:

• “People feel there are hidden agendas, fromthe VPs on down.”

• “We are guarded and wary in large meet-ings. People are careful of every word theysay. Some see it as dangerous and punishing tobe candid, as they are seeking [the leader’s]approval.”

• “We are more concerned with who’s rightthan with what’s right for the business.”

• “The issues between [the two leaders] affectmany in the organization—mixed messages,changing priorities, time wasted.”

• “Issues are swept under the rug. The teamlooks to avoid confrontation around touchy is-sues.”

• “Issues may be raised, but are not discussed

in a safe and open environment. Speed to clo-sure is not achieved and issues are continuallyrecycled.”

In today’s fiercely competitive businessworld, speed is a key competitive advantage.The rate at which a company can implement anew strategy, move new products through thepipeline, or respond to competitive threats sep-arates the high performers from the rest of thepack. When teams and organizations fail tocreate an atmosphere of accountability, inwhich employees are candid and straightfor-ward and issues are surfaced and resolved,they pay the price in decreased motivation andmorale and increased turnover. People becomedisenfranchised; decisionmaking is delayed; itis hard to get things done. Employees end upmarking time—just doing the minimum ex-pected of them. This hardly is the way to stayahead of the competition.

Playing the victim is common in personaland business situations. Consider the husbandor wife who tolerates abusive behavior from a

spouse, or the student who fails a course and,rather than taking it over, drops out of school,or the employee who vows never to make an-other suggestion after management ignores hisfirst one. In each of these examples, the vic-tim’s behavior is less a result of the reality of asituation than it is of his or her mindset. Wecannot always control what happens to us, butwe can control how we react to it. In any givenset of circumstances, whether we emerge asvictor or victim depends on our reactions.

Here is how the dynamic works. As a resultof our experience and perceptions in life, weoften approach situations with preconceivednotions. For instance, if you disagreed with asuperior in a previous job or organization, andthere were negative consequences, you mighttend to tread carefully before disagreeingagain, even many years later, in a completelydifferent situation. If you believe that dealingwith issues directly will cause others to dislikeyou, you either might suppress issues or—when you no longer can rein in your frustra-tion—act out in unproductive ways. When in-dividuals react to a situation based on their—or

others’—past experience, withoutdetermining what is true in thecurrent situation, they are reactingto a “story” or perception, ratherthan to reality. When the story isnegative, it can stop employeesfrom taking actions that might beto their benefit or that of the orga-nization.

Here are some typical, disem-powering stories that underlie vic-tim mentality: Challenging au-thority can be a career-limitingmove. We do not confront peopledirectly here; we are a “nice” or-ganization. If I confront someone,it will damage our relationship.Management just does not get itand does not care, so why bother?I have tried that and it just does

not work. I could not because they (boss/peers/the environment) would not let me.

In my years of consulting, I have heardthese stories and dozens more, over and overagain. What all of them have in common arethe individuals’ rationalizations and justifica-tions for playing it safe and refusing to be-come accountable for their situation.

Victim behavior, to be eradicated from theworkplace, must be attacked at three levels:

• Mindset—raising the bar on accountability.Victims need help in distinguishing fact fromfiction. They have to separate what really ishappening from their reactions to it. Theyhave to identify and challenge their beliefs, orstories, about what can or cannot be said ordone to resolve issues. Most importantly, theseemployees must recognize how their own be-havior might have contributed to the situationand whether they have accepted accountabilityfor resolving it—or have they just complained,hoping that someone else would come to therescue?

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“When teams andorganizations fail to create anatmosphere of accountability,in which employees are candidand straightforward and issuesare surfaced and resolved, they

pay the price in decreasedmotivation and morale and

increased turnover.”

One way to help victims shift their mindsetis to have them examine the payoffs and costsof maintaining their stories. What payoffs dothey get from their belief that it is best to playit safe and not rock the boat—perhaps a per-ceived sense of job security?; the possibility ofa promotion?; how about the admiration offellow malcontents? Victims often fail to rec-ognize the costs they are paying for holding onto their beliefs: not just increasing dissatisfac-tion, but also stress, low self-esteem, poor per-formance, and the longer-term potential forphysical and emotional illness.

Victims frequently subscribe to the storythat there are no choices open to them. Whatthey need help in seeing is that, no matter whatthe situation, they always have a choice. Theycan confront a situation directly in an effort tochange it, or simply let it go, accepting it as it isbut not allow it to affect them. If they really be-lieve that a person or issue cannot be changed,they can shift their perception so that, while theperson’s behavior or issue still exists, they nolonger allow it to perturb them. Finally, theycan leave the person or situation—change theirjob or move to another company.

All three are assertive choices in which theindividual takes action toward some type ofresolution and, therefore, feels in control. Afourth choice exists, but it is the one that hascreated the victim mentality in the first place—going underground. Victims need to know thatthey may not always like the choices theyhave, but that they always have them. They arefar better off making a choice, which will em-power them, than doing nothing and prolong-ing their own inevitable downward spiral.• Skill set—teaching employees how to havedirect and productive conversations that resultin effective solutions, and providing them witha range of options to take when issues arise.Shifting mindset creates the willingness tochange behavior; imparting the right skill setcreates the ability to do so. In today’s matrixorganizations, most work teams are made upof representatives from a wide range of func-tional areas. Because those responsible for re-sults often depend on individuals over whomthey have no direct authority, possessing influ-encing and conflict management skills is moreimportant than ever before. They include theability to make assertive and clear requests;listen and understand others’ concerns whenthey disagree, become defensive, or resist; de-personalize feedback; and attain collaborativesolutions wherever possible.

Most individuals in business today do notlearn these skills in traditional educational set-tings. Many companies have internal traininggroups that conduct such programs or sendemployees to external training organizationsthat offer these programs regularly.• Protocols—helping employees agree upon,and hold one another accountable for, follow-ing productive rules of engagement. In otherwords, this entails the creation of ground rulesthat employees agree upon and follow withoutexception. These rules govern how work

teams—whether departmental, cross-function-al, or multi-level—will resolve conflict, makedecisions, conduct meetings, and otherwise in-teract between and among themselves.

Once the rules have been established, lead-ers and employees are accountable for holdingeach other to them and for “calling out” thosewho break them. When it comes to protocols,remember, the leader is treated just like anyother team member, and any person has theright—actually, the obligation—to point it outif the leader is the one who breaks the rules.

A number of protocols that teams and orga-nizations have created work well to eliminatevictim behavior. First and foremost is candor.On high-performing teams, each member haslicense to say anything about any area of theteam and the critique is interpreted as being insupport of the team’s “winning.” If a personhas issues, and leaving is not an option, he orshe is expected either to confront the issues di-rectly or let them go. Many teams choose aperiod of time, such as 48 hours, in which anissue must be addressed (or at the least put onthe relevant parties’ calendars to address) sothat they know resolution will be reached.

There also are ground rules for when con-flict cannot be resolved and must be escalated.Receptivity—listening to another’s viewpoint,even if you disagree—often is a requirement.Depersonalization is expected when givingand receiving feedback. Feedback always istreated as a business issue, even when it focus-es on behavior.

When these and other ground rules are clearand agreed to, team members know that valueis placed upon these behaviors, and they arenot just platitudes. Those who unfailingly fol-low and enforce the ground rules are respectedand rewarded by the team and the organiza-tion—in some companies, it is one of the crite-ria in performance reviews.

In our consulting work, we often combineall three elements in a process known as “teamalignment.” These sessions are real-life inter-ventions made to accelerate a team or organi-zation’s ability to work through issues and toproduce outstanding business results. Chang-ing mindsets and establishing protocols arepart of all alignment sessions. Between align-ment sessions, training in the appropriate skillsets is provided, so that a victim mentality isnot condoned and high-performance ways ofworking are internalized.

Eradicating victim mindset and behavior isnot an overnight job. It takes real fortitude onthe part of leaders to encourage candor, createhigh levels of accountability, and hold them-selves to the same standards as their employ-ees. Difficult as it may be, it can be accom-plished, and the rewards are great: personalfreedom, greater speed to market, increasedperformance and competitiveness, and strongerbottom-line results.

June A. Halper is a senior consultant withGuttman Development Strategies, Inc.,Mount Arlington, N.J.

USA TODAY MAY 2007 67

Your organization, like many oth-ers, may be harboring an under-ground army of employees who

are contributing to their own dissatis-faction and keeping you from achiev-ing your goals. Think about your super-visors, peers, and the people who re-port to you. How many of them exhibitsome or all of these victim behaviors:

They whine and complain about“how awful it is around here”; claim tohave no say in things, and not to careanyway; seek to enroll others, peopleof like mind with whom they can com-miserate; tend to be full of righteousindignation, pointing out other “vic-tims” of the organization to strength-en their case; rarely deal directly with aperson or an issue and, if they attemptto do so and are unsuccessful, theywalk away and continue to voice theirfrustration and anger. Moreover, theyspread their negativity to anyone whowill listen, infecting their environmentwith the victim virus, or they say noth-ing at all, either pretending that every-thing is fine or acting out in passive-ag-gressive ways.

When human resources or manage-ment gives them an opportunity to airtheir concerns, they refuse to expressthem directly or to participate in healthyproblem resolution. They blame oth-ers—other departments, peers, man-agement, the culture—for their failures.

HOW MANYVICTIMSDO YOU

WORK WITH?