The corporate cult question: Am I in one?

Yup, it could very much be a possibility that you are in a corporate cult! It’s not something we usually associate with the word ‘cult’, but workplaces can fit the definition of “a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control.” West and Langone (1986)

“We’re not a cult! And don’t ever say that about our organisation ever again. We’re going to change the world! Are you going to do whatever it takes to make that happen or not? Because if you don’t like it, there’s the door… Don’t forget though, I care about you, we’re a family. You’ve got that next promotion just around the corner, don’t throw it away!“

Oh my, the whiplash! If you are at the receiving end of this kind of messaging, it would make sense to me that you might start to feel a little crazy. On the surface level, it’s all such reasonable wording, and could even sound appealing – while at the same time, your body might be tensing and bracing, like it’s under attack. What a disconnect to try and cope with between your own body and mind.

To make sense of the body’s response, here’s how I might suggest decoding what’s being said in this messaging:

• “Wrong! And don’t ever say that about our organisation ever again.”
  • You need to tread on eggshells about how you maintain our image, we care about that much more than the truth.
• “We’re going to change the world!”
  • We’re using grandiose language to make you choose a side – you’re either for us, or against us. 
• “Are you going to do whatever it takes to make that happen or not?”
  • So if you’re for us, show it by trying to meet our unrealistic expectations that we know requires you to sacrifice and endure pain. 
• “Because if you don’t like it, there’s the door…”
  • And even if you do everything to meet those unrealistic expectations, we will happily replace you any minute, and take no responsibility for making this unbearable. 
• “Don’t forget though, I care about you, we’re a family.”
  • You can belong here, if you show blind obedience and loyalty. 
• “You’ve got that next promotion just around the corner, don’t throw it away!”
  • So come back and join us in the fantasy that we have your best interests at heart. Isn’t it so cosy in here… hiding from the truth… 

If you are one of the lucky people to live and work in a highly resonant body, this kind of messaging doesn’t just register as “strange” or “contradictory” — it lands physically. You may notice your muscles tighten, your stomach drop, your breathing change, or a low hum of alertness switch on that’s hard to turn off. While others can take the words at face value or brush them off as “just how work is,” your system is picking up the mismatch between what is being said and what is being done. You can feel the pressure to comply, the threat underneath the warmth, the performance underneath the care. Over time, this constant internal noise can leave you exhausted, confused, and doubting your own judgment — not because you are misreading the situation, but because you are accurately sensing something that isn’t being openly acknowledged.

Narrative Therapy has a powerful underlying principal where ‘the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem’. I hope you might be able to take comfort in the fact that you are still the same interesting, interconnected, and invaluable person no matter where you work – the possible manipulation in your workplace is a problem that sits outside of you. The more we can see problems for where they properly sit, as outside of us and not some inherent brokenness inside us, the more we might be able to get creative and see ways forward.

So yes, if you’re getting this kind of hot/cold messaging in your workplace, it’s a really worthwhile questioning if you are in a corporate cult. The great news is though, by being willing to question, contemplate and accept what’s in front of you – you are already on your way to creating change.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
– words written by James Baldwin in an essay for The New York Times published in 1962