Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological state in which the kidnap victim, or person detained against their own will, develops a complicit relationship with their kidnapper. On occasion, prisoners may end up helping captors achieve their ends or evade formal authority, according to Wikipedia.
Interesting and revealing. The compliant subservience of the publicist to his important client, has an explanation: it seems to be a matter of survival. As in the case of a kidnap victim, he assumes that his life is in danger and that his success or failure depends on the exclusive will of his client, often in the figure of a brand manager, a marketing manager or a general manager. It is not surprising that, because of this fear, we advertisers have become a kind of people pleasers, and therefore, we often do not reach our maximum potential of effective contribution.
Likewise, there are many clients who act as captors and who prefer total control and domination, thus alienating creative freedom, a proactive environment, and an atmosphere conducive to the excited generation of ideas and initiatives. Under the effect of the Stockholm syndrome, there are many of us who have fallen at one time or another into the trap of doing what is necessary to please those who dominate us.
Wikipedia adds that hostages try to protect themselves in the context of uncontrollable situations, where they try to fulfill the wishes of their captors. Does this sound familiar? Does this explain the behavior that we often experience among managers or directors, creatives or executives? Is it not often the case between subordinates and their bosses?
In fact, the chain of control established since childhood, as well as the personal hurts and pains in the growth of each one, mix with the culture of authority and subordination to create a complex system of captors and abductees that sickens relationships and minimizes potentials, both individual and collective.
In these situations in which we have all found ourselves, it is no wonder that the marketing manager silences in front of his bosses and leaves us to die alone in a presentation, when the campaign is out of strategy because of a poorly focused brief. In a culture where freedoms are deprived, it is normal to observe fear of making mistakes, of being fired, of losing the account, of not being able to please the captor.
The relationship to the Stockholm Syndrome shines a light that explains some extreme subordination behaviors that do little to free our talent. For this reason, those of us who have some degree of authority must be careful not to unintentionally generate these conditions, and for this reason, tolerance is a necessary condition. Likewise, in our relationships with people in a position of authority, we must be careful to avoid fear and the frequent cowardice that is generated when we feel in danger of losing our account. Let us know how to distinguish when loyalty is confused and surrendered to a more powerful abuser, and let us carefully observe the state of all our relationships. Economic slavery exists and because of this, I only find a way out in personal courage and personal trust in your Higher Self.
Do we suffer from any degree of Stockholm Syndrome? In your condition of being part of a work team, on the client’s or agency’s side, are you in relationship with a kidnapper of your talent and true potential? Could it be that we docilely opt for the security that offers us to say and propose what pleases us? Will we have the guts to denounce conditions of abuse or deprivation of freedoms?
Attention and courage, comrades, God will not put too great a test for each one of us. Fortitude and honor, for it is not worth a life in captivity. Freedom or death, that there is no worse condition than spiritual slavery because of the common, often unperceived subordination in today’s economic relationships.
We need to keep it in our hearts and minds: what we do in our lives echoes in eternity.
Article originally published on May 5, 2007.
