This is made worse by those insufferable over-zealous team members with a i-can-wag-my-tail-harder-than-you attitude. They send emails from holiday expressing their concern over a change, which frankly no one gives a damn about, and moan their semi-brags on how they are dying under work because how random senior managers (who don't give a crap about them and are just playing them to get more work done) have "insisted on my involvement". These are the kind of rotten apples who don't have a life and drag those that do have/want one to the bottomless pit of overwork. /rant
This, a hundred times. I try to gently tell junior colleagues to avoid that trap. You just create a rod for your own back, and you indirectly harm the more senior people with more commitments outside of work.
I can relate though. Some newer people are eager to please. I was a bit like that when I was younger. I wish someone had taken me aside and pointed out the problem with it.
This is a side effect of organisational structure, imo, less so personality.
Modern companies have an increasingly "court politics" culture and structure. Many roles are unique, and organisational structure is constantly changing. "Senior Customer Advocate can mean something prestigious one day, something menial the next, and be eliminated as a role the following week.
These dynamics are constantly negotiated in meetings, group emails and such. One or two meetings can turn someone from pivotal to "what does he actually do here?" People are highly aware of, sensitive to, and responsive to status dynamics. Status uncertainty is a major source of anxiety.
"Know your place" was a slogan of anglo society for many centuries. We tend to interpret that, from our modern liberal/republican perspective, as horrible. It's a tool of patriarchy, class suppression, etc. That is true. It was. But it also played on realities of human psychology. We are status seeking and are happier when our status is high, but we have natural coping mechanisms to deal with a low-but-secure social status. Insecurity of status is highly anxiety inducing.
That's where that insufferable, over-zealous tail wagging comes from. It's also why you notice it especially when people are on holiday. They're not present to monitor and defend their status. That status really is insecure. They could really lose it over a vacation.
Toxic people will use whatever excuse is necessary to justify their behaviors.
If they want to wage slave, slave away. Leave the rest of us out of the theater production. Unless your job involves life safety, it doesn’t matter all that much.
