If you are being harassed by a bully, file a formal complaint with your employer or check the laws in your state to understand your rights
Never mistake good leadership with dictatorship – a dictator may very well be able to make people follow orders and accomplish their goals but they will never motivate people to do more, therefore neither the company nor the employees will ever reach their full potential. Dictators are bullies, they are not leaders.
A good leader does not allow workplace bullying – regardless of title or tenure, good leaders eliminate bullies as soon as they show their spots. With bullies, it doesn’t take long – they are typically insecure but come across overly arrogant and have no substance but they believe that they are irreplaceable so they cannot wait to demonstrate their true colors.
Don’t tolerate it
Recent studies show that over 54 MILLION employees are being bullied now or have been bullied in the course of their work life. That is almost 40% of the workforce in the United States. More people in the workplace have been harassed by corporate bullies than people who have been sexually harassed at work. Just as when sexual harassment was finally recognized as a crime and it took years to put laws into place to protect employees, it will take time to put laws in place to protect employees from corporate bullies. As with those same sexual predators at work, the corporate bullies are lurking in the halls now but feel free to continue their rampage because there are few laws that protect employees from being bullied at work.
There are laws in 13 states now to put bullies in their rightful place and hundreds of bills on the dockets for review but the bullies far outnumber the laws. We’ll get there but it will take time. In the meantime, we, as leaders and business owners can help.
How can we help? Don’t do business with bullies, don’t work for bullies and don’t EVER let bullies work for you. They need to either change their approach or change jobs. It’s as simple as that. There may not be many laws specifically around corporate bullying but there are plenty of laws around harassment in general and corporate bullying is harassment, pure and simple.
Corporate bullies hide under many disguises, often explaining their actions away as being ‘tough’ or pawn shops in Oklahoma ‘having high expectations’. Don’t let the disguises fool you – you will know the difference in a tough disciplinarian versus a bully. A tough disciplinarian can be pleased, albeit more difficult than others – a bully cannot. Regardless of what you do, bullies find something to criticize and subtle (or not so subtle) ways to demean you. Those tactics don’t grow you as an employer, employee or a leader – they simply suck the life out of you until you have no more to give.
Eliminating corporate bullies starts with you – if you are doing business with a bully, stop doing business with them or file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. If you are a leader, don’t wait for the bullies to be reported – seek them out and eliminate them.
Regardless of your position – a business owner, an employee or a corporate executive – you can do something to eliminate the bullies in business. We all work too hard to build our businesses to spend time with people who destroy it. Start today and make a difference. Kick the corporate bullies back to their playground where they belong!