Most of us spend around 40 hours a week dedicated to our workplace, and during this time, it is common to experience some level of conflict or even toxicity. What complicates this is the power dynamics: your manager has more power than you, and you may have more power than your subordinates.
Navigating conflict and toxicity in the work environment is no simple matter. Luckily, Stoicism offers insights that can help us manage our emotions and interactions with others.

The workplace environment

Ideally, we all show up to our workplace motivated and ready to start the day, feeling empowered by our leaders. We believe in them, and they believe in us. When we miss the mark, our leaders are quick to forgive, educate, and move forward with positive action.

Unfortunately, this ideal environment is uncommon. More typical are environments where leaders rule by fear, stifling creativity and courage, preferring everyone to just “do what they’re told.” This approach, while not virtuous, is understandable from a human psychology standpoint. Human beings desire control over their environment, and leaders often use their power to achieve this. The temptation to have more power for personal benefits is strong among many managers.

This leads to many people not enjoying their work environment, and feeling dehumanized. Another extreme is an environment where everyone fears for their job security, triggering basic survival instincts and leading to unnecessary anxiety.

The dichotomy of control

The workplace is no different from any other area of life, and Stoicism can help us manage these situations. 
A key Stoic principle is the dichotomy of control: understanding that your manager's actions, coworkers, or subordinates are not within your control. Though we may get frustrated with the actions of others, we ultimately have no control over them. In sum: if others want to be toxic, there’s nothing you can do about it, but you can ensure that you are not.

The Stoic view from above

Consider the Stoic view from above. When stressed by a deadline imposed by your boss, take a moment to zoom out. Start with where you are right now and continue scaling out until you see that what happens in this moment is, in the grand scheme of things, rather minuscule.

Will this day matter to you in a year? What about in 5 years? Even if you fail this assignment and it feels terrible in the short term, will it emotionally bother you in 10 years? If not, then perhaps it’s best to let your shoulders down a bit and simply get it done without anxiety.

Zoom out even further: do your actions today mean anything in the multi-billion-year life of the planet? Will they mean anything in another 6 billion years? Do not forget, in your daily stress, how short a human life really is.

Courage and fortitude

Consider the purpose of strength and courage in a toxic work environment. Perhaps it is part of your role in the cosmos to manage and improve this environment.

If your boss rules by fear, perhaps you can handle that productively so that you do not manage your own team the same way. Instead of transferring poor leadership styles down the chain of command, be strong enough to absorb it, deal with it, and be a good leader to your own team.

Stoicism encourages us to be pro-social and to “bear a cross” in the world. Some crosses are forced upon us, but others we can choose. We could choose to leave our workplace and find a better environment. Or we could choose to stay because we have confidence that we can change this environment for the better and make it a better place to work over time.

Closing remarks

One of the great things about Stoicism is that it gives you agency over your own life. It recognizes that our environment can add stress to our lives but asserts that we have the agency to manage it appropriately. Stoicism isn’t just a philosophy to be practiced at home; it can be applied in any work environment, whether productive or toxic.

Brandon is most well-known for his podcast, The Strong Stoic Podcast, where he discusses philosophical ideas both solo and with guests. He also coaches individuals to help them be their best selves, writes articles, plays music, manages projects, and several other things.

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