Are You Surrounded By Bucket Crabs?

I bet loads of you have heard about the frog in a pan theory before, right? It’s grim but it’s basically if you had a pan of boiling water and put a frog in there, then the frog will jump out straight away but, if you were to put the frog into a pan of regular water, and bring it up to a boil… well, there’s a sticky end for the frog.

Have you heard about the crab in the bucket?

It’s a metaphor that describes a situation where individuals, often within a group, display a tendency to undermine or pull down those who are achieving success or progressing well. It’s going “No, you can’t have that success or progression – let’s pull them back down into place!”

The term is derived from the behaviour of crabs in a bucket; when one crab tries to climb out, the others pull it back down! Cheeky, ain’t it?

I’ve seen this happen across the beauty industry too, and you need to be wary of people and their pincers.

Professional jealousy is deadly. We all know one hairstylist that’s gaining recognition for their techniques or maybe building up a great client base of Rockstar Clients – there will always then be colleagues or other stylists in the area that instead of celebrating their success with them, will be envious and attempt to discredit or diminish their achievements. That green eyed monster!

That can develop into gossip or rumours way quicker than any toner. Negative trash talk or spreading misinformation to tarnish their reputation, be it personally or professionally – reflecting that crab mentality.

So why don’t these crabs (stylists!) focus on improving their own skills and services? Surely you could speak to that stylist, congratulate them on their achievement and ask if you can learn from them to improve their own business! Nah; some people will always actively try to undermine others, offering lower prices, stealing their clients, or looking to hinder their success. It’s trash, and it needs to stop.

Not everyone acts like this, so I’m absolutely not tarring all with the same brush. I work with thousands of bosses that have felt this before though, so it’s important to talk about it and call it out – let’s be the change and create more of an environment whereby everyone is here to actively encourage others to succeed! In such a wide and varied competitive field, let’s call out this behaviour and build a positive collaborating culture.

Let 2024 be the year that we stop crabs in their tracks and help everyone up and out of the bucket!

And if you'd like to join a supportive group who want the best for each other and hold space for everyone's successes, join my FREE Facebook group here.

Maddi 💖