r. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in t

Have you ever experienced an unhealthy work environment? While most of us have, the majority of us does not or can not find ways to improve the toxic situation. I have a few suggestions on how we can, individually, change the landscape of the corporate world.

Like a lot of women who found themselves in corporate jobs over the years, I never planned on a business career. I was either going to be an operatic soprano or a Broadway star, so I didn't look too closely into the whole business thing. My dad took the train every day to his job as a magazine publisher, and I saw him bring home a briefcase full of papers every night. That was about the extent of my exposure to the business world. When I was in music school in New York, I would pop into my dad's office every now and then to borrow ten dollars. I got out as quick as I could.

Ten years later, I was a corporate person myself and working hard at my fast-moving, fast-growing technology employer. One day, a bunch of us twenty-something's were brainstorming in a conference room, throwing ideas around and having a great planning session. We were all peers and contemporaries, so it was easy to get some great collaboration going. All of a sudden, the company's CFO - a really lofty guy several levels up the organizational chart from any of us in the room - opened the door and walked in. He asked a question of one of us, and the guy, John, jumped out of his seat. "Uh, yes, I've got those figures right here," he says in a yes-sir-anything-else-sir! kind of voice. I was amazed. The guy's whole demeanor, body language and tone of voice changed. All of a sudden, Mr. Collaborative Peer Interaction turned into Mr. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in th

o or a Broadway star, so I didn't look too closely into the whole business thing. My dad took the train every day to his job as a magazine publisher, and I saw him bring home a briefcase full of papers every night. That was about the extent of my exposure to the business world. When I was in music school in New York, I would pop into my dad's office every now and then to borrow ten dollars. I got out as quick as I could.

Ten years later, I was a corporate person myself and working hard at my fast-moving, fast-growing technology employer. One day, a bunch of us twenty-something's were brainstorming in a conference room, throwing ideas around and having a great planning session. We were all peers and contemporaries, so it was easy to get some great collaboration going. All of a sudden, the company's CFO - a really lofty guy several levels up the organizational chart from any of us in the room - opened the door and walked in. He asked a question of one of us, and the guy, John, jumped out of his seat. "Uh, yes, I've got those figures right here," he says in a yes-sir-anything-else-sir! kind of voice. I was amazed. The guy's whole demeanor, body language and tone of voice changed. All of a sudden, Mr. Collaborative Peer Interaction turned into Mr. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in t

d.

Ten years later, I was a corporate person myself and working hard at my fast-moving, fast-growing technology employer. One day, a bunch of us twenty-something's were brainstorming in a conference room, throwing ideas around and having a great planning session. We were all peers and contemporaries, so it was easy to get some great collaboration going. All of a sudden, the company's CFO - a really lofty guy several levels up the organizational chart from any of us in the room - opened the door and walked in. He asked a question of one of us, and the guy, John, jumped out of his seat. "Uh, yes, I've got those figures right here," he says in a yes-sir-anything-else-sir! kind of voice. I was amazed. The guy's whole demeanor, body language and tone of voice changed. All of a sudden, Mr. Collaborative Peer Interaction turned into Mr. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in t

al levels up the organizational chart from any of us in the room - opened the door and walked in. He asked a question of one of us, and the guy, John, jumped out of his seat. "Uh, yes, I've got those figures right here," he says in a yes-sir-anything-else-sir! kind of voice. I was amazed. The guy's whole demeanor, body language and tone of voice changed. All of a sudden, Mr. Collaborative Peer Interaction turned into Mr. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in t

r. Corporate Brown-Noser right in front of our eyes. After a few moments, the CFO left and I turned to John. "Whoa," I said. "That was weird! What happened to you? Are you afraid of that guy or something?"

That was a lesson for me. The whole room went silent. I had committed a sin - I had pointed out something that was embarrassing to admit. A lot of the people in the room would have done just what John did, in the face of big authority. I didn't mean my question as an insult, but it came across that way; I wounded John by suggesting that he was one person to his peers, and another person to one of the company big shots. It was true, but it was hurtful too, because nobody likes to think that they kowtow to authority. No one likes to acknowledge it, but a lot of people do it. It wasn't even necessary for him to act that way - it was automatic. The CFO walked in, and he jumped up and played the subservient role. He probably wasn't even aware of it. It was habitual. It was part of the corporate fabric. I wasn't supposed to mention it - bad form on my part.

This is one of the things that corporate folks buy into, little by little and without meaning to, as they settle into corporate workplaces. You suck up to your boss, just a little bit, or for some people, a lot. You aren't authentic. You don't even know why. Maybe because I was an opera singer who wandered into the corporate arena, I stayed an outsider and observed things like this - a junior anthropologist. I thought that these corporate-get-along behaviors were weird, and sad. I'm happy to act a part if someone's doing a theatrical production, but otherwise, very honestly, I'd prefer to be myself.

And so I would talk to people about this. "Why do you think Joe said what he said to John in that meeting?" I would ask. "Everyone knows Joe wants to run John's department, can't John see it?" Oh man, they would say to me. You have a lot to learn. Corporate politics is part of the game. Saying one thing when you mean another is part of the game. And I would say, "Why?" or "That is idiotic."

In retrospect I g