Gaslighting as Management Strategy Definition: Corporate Inmate Dictionary

Full Definition

This is existing psychological and cultural language, interpreted through the Corporate Inmate worldview. Gaslighting itself is a well established clinical term. What we're naming here is the specific corporate version of it.

A depleted person is an obedient person. This is the pattern where contradiction gets built into the system by design: play the game, fit in, don't stand out. Then at review time, you're told you merely met expectations because you didn't stand out.

When you finally name what's happening, the story flips. Suddenly you're the problem. You're negative. You're not a team player. The exhaustion isn't a side effect of the dysfunction. It's the strategy.

Signs You're Living It

You've been criticized for the exact behavior you were praised for six months earlier, with no acknowledgment of the contradiction.
The moment you point out a problem, the conversation shifts to your attitude instead of the problem itself.
You've started doubting your own read of a situation before anyone else has said a word.

Survival Move

When the conversation shifts from the issue to your attitude, name that shift out loud, calmly, without accusation. I want to stay focused on the deadline question, can we come back to that. You don't have to win the argument about your character. You just have to refuse to let it replace the real conversation.

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