A lobster may have tremendous value at an expensive restaurant, but they have absolutely no value in a work environment.\u00a0 I have likely lost a few of you with my observation so let me explain exactly what I mean.\u00a0 If you have ever observed lobsters in a fine restaurant you will find that they are kept in a shallow cage without any lid on the cage, yet you don\u2019t see the lobsters getting out of the cage and running lose in the restaurant\u2026so why not?\u00a0 The reason why is that when one lobster tries to crawl out of the tank, the other lobsters will grab and pull that lobster right back into the tank with them.\u00a0 They can\u2019t escape because they consistently pull each other back in.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know the science behind why the lobsters act this way, but I can tell you that this phenomenon is something that is not always unique to lobsters in a tank\u2026<\/p>\n
There are certain people in this world who are infected with \u201cthe lobster syndrome\u201d.\u00a0 These are the people who cannot stand to see other people do well.\u00a0 They will pinch, pull, and pry to try and drag anyone else down who appears to be progressing ahead of them.<\/p>\n
What causes lobster syndrome?\u00a0 From what I have observed it has typically started with someone feeling insecure or inadequate about themselves and it festers and grows from there to jealousy and envy and bitterness. \u00a0The more a person becomes unhappy with themselves the more they want others around them to be unhappy too.\u00a0 Everything becomes a comparison to themselves \u2013 if one person accomplishes something good they read it as \u201cI am not capable\u201d, if someone is told they are pretty the insecure person hears \u201cI must be ugly\u201d, and it goes on and on for them.\u00a0 Rather than recognizing their own unique gifts and talents, they become so focused on wanting the talents that other people have that their own talents never get developed.\u00a0 And so their behavior ends up perpetuating the growth of their insecurities, and the way they try to combat those is to do everything they can to bring other people down with them.\u00a0 If they don\u2019t get to be happy then no one else should be allowed to be happy either.\u00a0 And so the negativity comes and the mean spirited behavior ensues.\u00a0 Sadly, their doing so won\u2019t lead to helping them feel any better about themselves; in fact it is quite the opposite.\u00a0 When they are constantly working to pull others down they only succeed in feeling worse and worse about themselves.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a never ending spiral downward until that person will face their disease and make a conscious decision to break out of this lobster syndrome.<\/p>\n
Many years ago I made the decision that I would keep my life free from people who were affected with the lobster syndrome. As a CEO I have witnessed time and time again how quickly a person with the lobster syndrome will spread their infectious disease to everyone around them, so I understand the danger that they bring into an organization.\u00a0 It has taught me over the years the importance of protecting the environment you allow into your company.\u00a0 I believe that companies who do not stay cognizant of the lobster syndrome will find that their business getting pulled down just as quickly as their people are, because at the end of the day a business is a reflection of the people who make up that business.\u00a0 The majority of the success of my company can be attributed to the quality of the people who work there and the quality of the clients we associate with.\u00a0 We chose to surround ourselves with people of integrity and values and it was reflected by the success of our business.<\/p>\n
So what can be done if you encounter someone who is infected with the lobster syndrome?\u00a0 First and foremost be aware of it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make excuses for it or try to dismiss it as \u201cno big deal\u201d.\u00a0 Remember that it is a contagious disease and the more you allow yourself around it the more likely you are to become infected yourself.\u00a0 If you see someone who is mean spirited, a backbiter, a gossip, or a joy killer, I suggest you point out to them how hurtful their actions are and then choose not to associate with that person any longer until they can get their own life together enough to free themselves from their disease.<\/p>\n
If you want your life to be full of success and joy and happiness then make a conscious decision to surround yourself with successful, joyous, and happy people Life can be a beautiful grand adventure that is full of love and learning and service and joy and success.\u00a0 The best way to ensure that your life will have those things is to surround yourself with the right kind of people.\u00a0 Choose your friends wisely. \u00a0Choose your business associates wisely.\u00a0 Keep your standards high and don\u2019t bend them for anyone.\u00a0 Always stand up for what you believe in, even if you have to stand alone.\u00a0 Know the kind of person you want to be in life and then be that.<\/p>\n
Oh, and most important:\u00a0 AVOID LOBSTERS!<\/p>\n
~Amy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A lobster may have tremendous value at an expensive restaurant, but they have absolutely no value in a work environment.\u00a0 I have likely lost a few of you with my observation so let me explain exactly what I mean.\u00a0 If you have ever observed lobsters in a fine restaurant you will find that they are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[148,96,38,146,149,147],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-competition","tag-culture","tag-leadership","tag-lobster","tag-success","tag-syndrome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}