posted February 17, 2013 10:15 AM            

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Sometimes, the workplace can feel a lot like high school: Full of cliques, gossip, and passive-aggressive behavior. Bullying has been a hot topic as of late and sadly, adults are not immune to it. Bullies certainly exist in the workplace, though they aren't quite as obvious as they were in grade school. They don't go around throwing people into trash cans and stealing lunch money. But their torment can be just as destructive.

Whether the bully is criticizing you, conveniently "forgetting" to include you in important conversations, stealing credit for your work, or talking badly about you to others, his goal is always the same: To tear you down (typically in an effort to build himself up).

(Please note: The male pronoun is used here for ease of reading. Bullies can, indeed, be female too.)

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Anyone here dealt/dealing with bullies at work? How do you handle it?

posted February 17, 2013 06:39 PM            

That said, I looked at this article, and this IS bullying:

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Bullies, on the other hand, engage in persistently aggressive and/or unreasonable behavior against a person. That means you're singled out and the person is being more than just annoying or rude. Various definitions of workplace bullying use the words systematic, hostile, threatening, abusive, humiliating, intimidating, and sabotage. In short, bullies are intentionally trying to harm you and your ability to do your work.

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And now I'm going to add this comment/criticism of the article for the win:

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I'm sorry Chrissy, but I fear you don't understand the magnitude and depth of real workplace bullying. For sure there are lots of misunderstandings and ways we may misinterpret behavior but what I call classic bullying (intentional attacks on one person) is alive and well in the workplace and your suggestions aren't the most helpful. In particular encouraging people to stand up to a classic bully is sketchy advice, at best. Classic bullies are not reasonable nor do they have a lot of empathy. Stand up and they will crush you more. Same with HR and superiors. Many times a classic bully is well liked by superiors because he/she delivers on the bottom line. So, your complaint will go unheeded. Again, going to HR, if you are seen as a whiner, they won't want to help you. If you don't have a lot of power, they will side with the bully. If the bully is notorious, they will avoid the problem because they can't do anything about it. I work with targets and victims in my coaching practice and I am a research sociologist. I know the facts are complicated and advice needs to be sophisticated.

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Sounds about right to me, and many bullies know how to get in good with the superiors before they bully (heck, knowing they're favored and wanting to keep it that way may inspire them to become bullies), otherwise their behavior would be stomped on instantly (like in most schools where the jocks could get away with about anything, even felony violence at times, but that's usually their exclusive privilege). Another study showed that bullies were generally popular as well (though interesting enough those at the very top generally were not bullies, but those between them and the "masses" were likely to be). So telling the boss could be counterproductive and even play right into the bully's hands. Heck, because bullies tend to be successful or at least popular with superiors they're more likely to be promoted so a boss is more likely to see things from a bully's perspective anyway while hating the "snitch." And a lot of typical management strikes me as somewhat bullying, like demanding bodily fluids on demand and declaring essential office bonding so they can work together as "goof off time" and taking it out of their pay, and after kicking employees around complain that they're spineless when in truth anyone who wasn't spineless wouldn't be tolerated there.

I personally don't expose myself to office politics, but if I did I suppose I'd learn verbal aikido and get hold of books like this.

My best friend has worked in an office for years. Having grown very clever but bullied in South Central (Los Angeles) she's learned all kinds of dirty tricks to use against bullies (and realizes she's no match for bullies by debating before the boss and the like) and she adapted them to the office. I admire her cunning.

posted February 18, 2013 09:52 AM            

She would start rumors about me, so I beat her at her own game and made her come out looking like an arse...I would casually place myself in her presence and be talking to a coworker and start a rumor abour myself, like:

"wow, I have missed my period for two months now....to have his baby would be nice, but I would not want him to cause problems with his wife...."

This evil woman even accused me of being a stripper once! A few of the male nurses, discretely had a dancer come to work, slipped into an unused office and had a little show for a male nurse's bday.

The cool folks worked one weekend and us another and somehow it got back to the others that this had happened and The Stepford Wives as we called them, were all over spreading rumors that I was the stripper!

REALLY! I would have loved to have her body.

Finally I went to the director, didnt mention any names cause she knew who I was talking about, told her to quiet the birds orelse I would with a suit of defamation of character and slander...

Stupid women!

But the evil one finally got hers as the doc she homewrecked on did it to her, and was caught with a much younger version of her fake, Barbie self...

Love Karma!