Loyalty to the Company above all else

Many companies have an unspoken command floating through the halls: "Bow to the organization above the rest!" There is a constant re-evaluation as to whether someone is playing their loyal role for the tribe. Talk of employees taking time for family and self-care is just that—talk. In practice, the expectation is that everyone will constantly genuflect toward the hierarchical (and often paternalistic) structure.

Someone who drinks to excess, yells at coworkers, holds racist views, drives away competent employees, has materialistic goals, and so forth will be tolerated, even rewarded, as long as their allegiance is true, helped by bringing in dollars or playing some other role that helps to perpetuate the organization.

On the other hand, someone with none of those vices might be cast aside if they are deemed not adequately sacrificing themselves on the altar of the organizational machinery.

In the children's book "Hope for the Flowers," Trina Paulus tells the story of caterpillars who form a tower with their bodies. They climb over each other in an attempt to reach the top. What reward waits for them? Nothing. Nothing at all. The struggle to rise only serves to stop them from cocooning and becoming the butterflies they were meant to me.

Stephen Goforth