099: Exploring workplace toxicity with Alisha Wolf
The Uncommon Couch
099: Exploring workplace toxicity with Alisha Wolf
We’ve all been there. Working for a micromanaging boss. Second guessing your competence. No work boundaries. Thinking that you are the problem. Navigating a toxic work environment can leave you feeling helpless and wondering how to get out.
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Alisha Wolf, a psychotherapist and leadership coach, about how to recognize a toxic workplace, how to know when you’re ready to leave a job, and how to ditch old toxicity habits as an entrepreneur. She’s also sharing her experience as a leadership coach and how she incorporates Buddhist psychology into her work.
We’ll talk about creating an abundance mindset, rediscovering your confidence, and finding the joy and meaning in the work you take on.
What you’ll find in this episode:
Alisha’s training in social work and Buddhist psychology
What prompted Alisha to add leadership coaching to her repertoire
Common traits of a toxic work environment
Why you shouldn’t force yourself to stay in an environment that isn’t working for you
How to untangle and heal from toxicity and not bring it into your entrepreneurial journey
The evolution of what it means to “work hard” and how to shift away from the grind
The importance of remembering and finding the confidence that exists within you
How to recognize signs you’re giving yourself that it’s time to leave a toxic workplace
Understanding that scarcity and hustle is not the formula for success
Why it’s important to cultivate and believe in abundance in your entrepreneurship journey
Alisha’s experience transitioning into entrepreneurship and leading her life with courage and joy
Why it’s important to only take on work that feels right and learning how to say no
Alisha’s experience integrating Buddhist psychology into her therapy and coaching businesses
Alisha’s Bio:
Alisha is a Leadership Coach and psychotherapist based in Baltimore, MD. She received her postgraduate training in Buddhist Psychology, and loves integrating a Buddhist lens with other modern modalities to help people find direction, lead with wisdom, and cultivate mental wellness.
Quotes:
And that's what I feel is really kind of the most dangerous thing about a toxic work environment, is that many of us that have been in toxic work environments for too long, we really feel a sense of like not trusting ourselves or not trusting our instincts because we've kind of been ignoring them for so long. [08:45] —Alisha
All of these messages that like this is problematic, this is a hard place to be, this doesn't feel good. We've kind of been trying to shut those off and then we also sort of shut off our connection with our sense of knowing, you know, that deeper sense of knowing or wisdom of what's the next right thing. So a lot of the untangling is really being able to name some of the beliefs that we've sort of taken on as a result of being in this work environment. [09:04] —Alisha
But I also think that there's a substantial number of people that come to me where it just doesn't feel like a good fit. And it's hard for us not to create stories about what that means about ourselves, especially if it works for other people. Why can they hack it? And I can't hack it. And you know, sometimes something I say is like, you don't have to hack it. [10:04] —Alisha
I think that I will just say in my own journey with entrepreneurship, that's something that has been like a real core part of my own work is believing in abundance and believing that clients are out there and opportunities are out there because in my mind, like believing that is really the key to being able to attract the abundance that is there. [14:49] —Alisha
Because, you know, even though we have this like incredible freedom that's built into being a business owner, there are also a million choice points. So it's like if you don't choose ease or choose flow or choose to take time to just rejuvenate and restore and lean into that freedom that you have, you will just build something that stresses you out maybe almost just as much as your 9 to 5. [16:51] —Alyssa