Dealing with the ‘Work Martyr’

“I’ve got all this work to do, and nobody’s helping me.”

“I can’t take a vacation because everything will fall apart.”

“If I want it done right, I’m gonna have to do it myself.”

Sound familiar?

These classic phrases are typical of Work Martyrs, those people in most dysfunctional organizations who are often both the key and bottleneck to progress.

Funny thing about Work Martyrs – they complain ALL THE TIME, but they resist every attempt to help them. They burn through staff, consultants and vendors like a book of matches. They’re like a person drowning, flailing around during the rescue attempt, endangering both themselves and the rescuer.

Why would someone do that? If you need help, and someone’s offering it, why would you not accept it?

It makes no sense, until you look at it from an emotional perspective.

Work Martyrs love being indispensible, and they expect to be paid for their never-ending sacrifice in praise and sympathy. To actually solve their problem is to rob them of their identity.

Work Martyrs see themselves as victims, but they are actually emotional bullies. They hoard information, alienate co-workers, and shun new ideas or anything else that threatens their status. They seek absolute control over their environment. If they can’t find dysfunctional situations to fix, they create them.

By the way, “Work” Martyrs also tend to be “Family” Martyrs, “Event” Martyrs and “Volunteer” Martyrs! Owners and managers often put up with them because, in truth, nobody is going to work as hard as they do! But trust me, in the long run, they are costing you more productivity than they are bringing you.

How do you prevent the Work Martyr from wreaking havoc on your organization? The best way is to address the behavior as soon as it starts. However, since they are good at masking their true nature until they are fully entrenched, that may not be possible. In that case, control and/or extraction becomes a very delicate and complex operation.

Does your organization have a “Work Martyr” problem? We may have a solution. Don’t wait one more day – Contact us to find out how we can help you create a more pleasant and productive work environment!

Stay tuned for Part 2: “Taming the Work Martyr Within”