 So what's their mode of operations? Well, they're the instigator, but they don't make themselves the center of the conflict. They're very good at stirring up conflict amongst others and not being part of it. They'll drop the bomb and run, hide under cover, and have a bit of a giggle. Perhaps. Their underlying message is I know things that you don't know. So what's the impact of all this covert conflict in the workplace? Well, it looks very similar to something that I had a lot of dealings with when I was in the Army. Combat stress, also known as combat fatigue, driven by relentless pressures from danger and prolonged exposure to trauma and hazards. It is a natural reaction to this prolonged and sustained wear and tear. And symptoms include mental distress. So the signs that you might notice and just consider some of these, perhaps you can recognize them in others in your workplace or maybe you yourself at times have been exposed to this combat stress. Fatigue and exhaustion, so physical exhaustion. It can also affect people cognitively. They may find it more difficult to make decisions in a timely manner. They may actually make more errors in their projects and their reports. They could be preoccupied with minor details or minor issues. And in fact, their emotional response could be exaggerated to little issues as well. So we have that physicality, the way our brain operates, and our emotional response. And that's because all of this is driven by our autonomic nervous system. It's our protective system, right? This is what creates that fight-flight response when the sabertooth tiger is going to eat you. Unfortunately, in workplaces, we don't have too many sabertooth tigers, do we? Our bodies are still doing the same response. They're going into that fight-flight-freeze mode. Fight off the threat, get aggressive, flee from the threat, or freeze and try to become invisible. What's the impact of all of that on workforces, on our workplaces? What are you noticing? Raise your hand if you can tell me what sort of signs you're noticing in the workplace as a result of all of these symptoms of combat stress or cubicle wars. Lots of tears, so that emotional response. What else? Loss of productivity, absolutely. From that business level, there's a very clear impact on the bottom line. Absenteeism, thank you, as well as presenteeism. Feeling overwhelmed. Confusion, all of those cognitive impacts. Higher turnover as a result. More stress sleeve. More work cover claims. More bullying claims. More mental health issues. So is it worthwhile taking a look at how we can manage combat in the workplace? All right, I'm gonna share with you now five archetypes. I want you to give yourself one point for each of these archetypes that you've encountered personally in your work career. All right, and because we're talking about covert conflict and cubicle wars, let's give them military archetypes. The intelligence officer. You know the intelligence offer because they're the ones saying, well, I don't wanna say anything, but I really shouldn't tell you this, but they're the one gathering intelligence all the time and then just using it to their advantage when it suits them. So what's their mode of operations? Well, they're the instigator, but they don't make themselves the center of the conflict. They're very good at stirring up conflict amongst others and not being part of it. They'll drop the bomb and run, hide under cover, and have a bit of a giggle, perhaps. Their underlying message is I know things that you don't know, which gives them this sense of importance because they've got unique information. Now, if you have unique information, how valuable is that to you unless you share it with someone else? That's what they're motivated by. And underneath all of that, there is insecurity. There's insecurity about their own role, perhaps a sense of arrogance or superiority, but they're doing this because they're motivated by a need and that need is the need to feel important. So we can maybe give them some other ways to feel important. We might reduce their need to create this conflict. The next archetype. So give yourself one point if you think you've come across the intelligence officer. The next one is the Sergeant Major. How many of my people in the room here are married or have ever been involved with or have ever been themselves in the Defense Force? Right, so you might know some of these archetypes personally. This was my husband of 19 years, actually 24 years on this Sunday, but he was only in defense for 19 years. So it's the Sergeant Major. This is the one who will vocally create noise. They're more than happy to say it like it is. They're the ones who are just going to tell you what's going to happen to your face. You're lazy. Pull your socks up and work harder, right? I'm just going to tell you like it is. Not sugarcoating anything. I'm just going to tell you like it is. How many people like to hear it like it is? Who likes a little bit of sugarcoating every now and then? Right. Their mode of operation is to claim that high moral ground and their underlying messages, I'm better than you. I'm better. I know more. I know better. I do better. You should be like me. They're motivated by what they think is right. And underneath all of this is somebody who's also pretty insecure. They might lack confidence in their ability, so they're making up for it in their presence. Has anyone ever heard that fake it till you make it statement? Your Sergeant Majors are using that. The next one is the foot soldier. The foot soldier is, I agree with Sarge. Their mode of operation is to form an alliance with the most powerful person in the group. Why do they do that? Why do they need that alliance with someone more powerful than them? It's because that will help them get through. It will help them to survive. So they will just go on the side of the strongest as opposed to support the weakest. Underneath, there's a very, very high level of stress and fear of self-destruction. That's why they need to align, not self-destruction, fear of destruction of themselves and that's why they need to align themselves with a strong third party. All right, so that's three archetypes. How many people are three for three already? A few, okay. The next one is the sniper. What do you think their process is? The sniper is that person who remembers every single detail of everything you've ever done and every conversation you've ever had. Their mode of operation is to be very strategic about when they speak up and what they speak up about and you can guarantee it might be something that you said three and a half years ago that contradicts what you said today. Their actions are very, very decisive and final and perhaps they take the approach that the ends justifies the means. Yes, it might not have been very nice of me to approach it this way, but in the end I was able to point out what a fraud you were or how inconsistent you are. They're not going to stand around to gloat though. They'll probably do their quick tap and bug out and they're motivated by what they see is right. So they're also taking that high moral ground. Underneath they're very self-centred, quite egocentric. They call out contradictions and they don't like to take risks. That's why they are information gatherers so that they have support and evidence and data to back up every conflict they create. All right, that's four. Then we have Switzerland. Now, Switzerland, their catch-cry is I'm just staying out of it. Just leave me out of it. Their mode of operation is to just head down, be the grey person and do their own thing. Now, when I say grey person, I'm not talking about this. You just mean the grey man. It's a term we used in army to mean no one ever notices them. They kind of fly under the radar. Well, Switzerland's a bit like that. They'll fly under the radar, but the conflict they create might be a lack of input. That passive withdrawal. Their underlying message is, let's just keep the peace at all costs. Let's just shove this under the carpet and not talk about it and just focus on something else. Does that actually help resolve conflict? Generally no. They're motivated by their own personal survival and external interests. And beneath all of this, let's not mistake this as the enlightened, compassionate Switzerland that we know of in our global neighbourhood. This is more self-serving. This is a survivalist approach. They're not compassionate at all. It's very self-serving. Hi, I'm Emmy Golding, Director of Psychology for the Workplace Mental Health Institute. We hope you liked the video. If you did, make sure to give it a thumbs up. We have more and more videos being released each week, so when you subscribe, you'll get a notification letting you know when a new one's just been published. So make sure to hit that subscribe button and don't miss out on this vital information for yourself, your colleagues and your loved ones.