Is your workplace a cult?
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Apple TV’s hit show “Severance” depicts what could arguably be defined as a corporate cult, with the employees under an authoritative power and denied access to the outside world. But are cult-like cultures possible in a real-life workplace?
If you ask attorney Carol Merchasin, head of sexual misconduct in spiritual communities practice at McAllister Olivarius, the answer is yes.
“Sometimes there’s a doctrine involved, sometimes there’s not,” says Merchasin. “There’s no agreed-upon definition of what a cult is. But there are indicators or markers — the No. 1 marker is a charismatic, authoritarian leader.”
This specifically refers to a leader who is not held accountable for their actions due to a lack of checks and balances, or another system that allows the leader’s actions to be questioned. Merchasin notes that executives like Harvey Weinstein and Roger Ailes are examples of leaders who were not held accountable — and if someone spoke out against them, that person’s job or entire career could be destroyed.
Just two years ago, three dancers filed a lawsuit against 7M Films, claiming the owner and pastor was running a cult that subjected workers to physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
“We are talking about a situation where there is zero tolerance for criticism, there is no ability to dissent,” says Merchasin. “I can certainly imagine workplaces in which people feel that way; that the leader is always right and they cannot voice any opposition.”
Content retrieved from: https://www.benefitnews.com/news/is-workplace-a-corporate-cult.
