He told her that “every team is just as good as its weakest link and you’re the weakest link.” For a long time, she believed him. She started working longer and longer hours, but “the harder I worked the worse I was according to him. Not only did he chastise her regularly when she made a mistake-or when he arbitrarily decided she’d failed-but he also made sure she never took credit for any of her successes. But then her boss, who was often traveling, started criticizing, from afar, every little thing she did-to the point that disparaging emails were pretty much the only kind of communication she received from him. When Laine (who asked to use her middle name for this article) got a job at a nonprofit with a mission she really believed in, she thought it would be a great gig. The Constant Critic (Think: Disparagement and Humiliation) One client Zundel worked with, for example, would often assume a kind of power pose in staff meetings, putting his feet up on the table and leaning back before launching into long tirades about why someone’s idea wouldn’t work. When you imagine a bully, what comes to mind? If it’s a stereotypical yelling, cursing, angry meanie, then you’re thinking of what Namie calls the “Screaming Mimi.” This type of bully tends to make a public scene and instill fear not only in their target, but also in all their co-workers, who might understandably be terrified of speaking up, for fear of becoming the next target.Īggressive communication can include not only yelling, sending angry emails, and other verbal forms of hostility, but also using aggressive body language. The Screaming Mimi (Think: Aggressive Communication) Here are four kinds of bullies you might encounter and the behaviors they display (and keep in mind that one bully could adopt multiple tactics): 1. In short, bullying can come from any direction in the org chart, and it can take different forms.
But that also means that more than a third are not managers, but rather peers or even lower-level employees. The majority (61%) of workplace bullies are bosses, according to WBI’s survey. If the bad behavior is unrelated to one of those, it might be toxic and soul-crushing, but it’s not against the law. What’s the difference? Harassment-including the kind where someone or someones create a hostile work environment-hinges on being mistreated based on a protected class, such as sex, race, religion, or national origin. Rather, “it creates a psychological power imbalance between the person doing the bullying and their target or targets to a point where that person at the receiving end develops feeling of helplessness.”Īnd unfortunately, unlike harassment, bullying isn’t illegal. Zundel emphasizes that workplace bullying goes far beyond a minor disruption or small annoyance. It can, and often does, interfere with the target’s ability to get their work done.
“People are angry and confused and they're concerned about their job all day every day-is today the day I'm going to be fired?” she adds. It creates a place where you're just always afraid and you can't be yourself,” says Catherine Mattice Zundel, CEO of Civility Partners, who specializes in resolving toxic work environments and coaching people who bully. Being bullied at work can harm both your mental and your physical health-with potential effects including major stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal issues, and more.
0 kommentar(er)
