If You Hear This, You Have a Problem

An excerpt from INC - 

These 4 Words Are a Sure Sign Your Team Has a Toxic Culture

If you find your team saying this phrase, you have some work to do.

BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST

If you manage people, one of your biggest challenges is motivating your team and keeping them focused on what's most important. It's a challenge because people are people and are sometimes easily distracted. As a leader, however, you need everyone contributing and working together towards what really matters.

Of course, the most important thing for your team might look different depending on your business. Still, I'm guessing you probably spend a lot of time trying to build a culture that prioritizes taking care of your customers, and supporting each other. If you don't, most of the other things you're trying to accomplish won't really mean much. 

He's a simple tip: If you find your team using these four words, you probably have some work to do. I'd even argue that if you ever hear them, your team might have a toxic culture. 

"It's not my job."

Unfortunately, that's a pretty common mentality for a lot of people when they show up for work. A lot of people like to have a very defined role with a list of tasks they can cross off. Everything that's on the list is their responsibility, and everything else is someone else's problem.

Except, it doesn't work that way in the real world. Too often, a job description becomes an excuse to ignore anything that's not listed as a bullet point. It's easy to think that anything else is someone else's problem. It's easy to look at something going wrong and think "that's not my job."

Here's the thing--if it's important, it's never not your job.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/these-4-words-are-a-sure-sign-your-team-has-a-toxic-culture.html