Why The Bully Boss Bullies ...
Professor Gary Martin FAIM
Chief Executive Officer, AIM WA | Emeritus Professor | Social Trends | Workplace Strategist | Workplace Trend Spotter | Columnist | Director| LinkedIn Top Voice 2018 | Speaker | Content Creator
A bullying boss can make life unbearable for many workers.
To help shed light on this problem, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Southern California have been studying exactly why a workplace bully bullies.
According to their research, the main reason bully bosses do what they do is to hide their own inadequacies and incompetence.
In other words, the research found; while good managers manage - bad managers bully.
A recent US Workplace Bullying Institute survey found workplace bullying is rife in the workplace - with up to 65 million US workers affected by it.
If you were to compare that figure to the entire working population - that is almost one third of the country!
Interestingly, the findings challenge the belief that abusive bosses are solely driven by ambition and the need to hold onto their power at all costs.
In fact, the research found it is not just the combination of having a high-power role and fearing that one is not up to the task that causes many managers to bully their co-workers.
The data suggests that ultimately, it is all about the boss’s sense of self-worth.
The research also found many US workers are so used to being bullied they consider it almost normal behaviour.
There was even significant evidence to suggest the culture of many American workplaces actively encourages and even rewards bullying.
This is because many US companies place great emphasis on individualism and the importance of managers over workers.
This in turn discourages collaborative efforts - giving the most influential members of organisations the power to bully others without recrimination.
The high prevalence of bullying in the US workplace could also be a reflection of the negative workplace culture.
This finding was backed up by a 2007 University of New Mexico study on bullying which discovered the incidence of ‘persistent workplace negativity’ was between 20 and 50 per cent higher for US workers, than for their Scandinavian counterparts.
The other interesting thing about workplace bullying is it is not always aggressive or obvious.
It can include more subtle forms of bullying, such as, for example: purposeful exclusion from team meetings/activities; consistently taking credit for your work; disrupting or overloading you with work; purposely withholding information, and spreading false rumours and gossip.
Also, bullying behaviour at work can sometimes be driven by the need to control a targeted individual.
This may be because these bullies need to ‘call the shots’ at any cost - insisting on having things their own way all of the time.
If others do not comply with their wishes, then they may become targeted.
Another reason workplace bullies target their co-workers is because of jealousy.
This type of bullying usually concerns co-workers who are successful, and receive regular positive feedback or attention from others within the company.
The bullying tactics are used to try and reduce the target's positive achievements by turning others against them in an effort to ruin the victim's reputation; and to cast them in a negative light.
Unfortunately, addressing the problem of workplace bullying is made that much harder because it is largely a ‘silent epidemic.’
Many people do not want to talk about it as being a victim is usually an embarrassing and humiliating experience.
However, I believe doing nothing is not the answer.
If you are being bullied at work - you do need to stand up to it - and do whatever you can to try and stop it.
Senior Business Systems Consultant | SAAS |Systems Analyst | Business Analyst | Functional Consultant | Implementations | Senior ERP Consultant | HRIS | Payroll | MYOB Acumatica | Acumatica | Accountant | MBA
7yA very good article !
Principal Advisor
7yThanks Gary for this very insightful article.
Claire loves corporate blogging, is trialling in-person Spanish classes and leads caage.org, the Campaign Against Adult Grooming.
7yInteresting. However the ways that bullies work, and the power balance mean that calling out bullying isn’t usually an option for the victim. Who should they report the bullying boss to, for example? At best, the bully will marginalize their target, often using ‘humour’ to humiliate. At worst, this is career suicide. Calling out almost always comes at great personal cost. Just at the time the target is at their most vulnerable. The only option available to many is to jump ship - but they’re doing it at a time when they’re in flight mode, and often make poor decisions just to escape - bullies are a talent drain in this respect. In large companies with an HR function, there’s perhaps a chance of resolve, but they're going to be pragmatic. The balance of power and financial implications fall heavily on the manager’s side when weighing up a ‘dispute’. I’d dearly love to see a follow up to this interesting article looking at how ‘we’ call out these workplace bullies, particularly in smaller companies.
Digital Transformation & Change Management Advocate I Passionate Supporter of Education
7yThanks Gary - this provides some very good insights into the problem. Covering individual inadequacies is certainly one I have seen and experienced. Fascinated (but sadly not surprised) that in the US it is 'almost encouraged? I also reflect on the impact on the business - not only does the bully make a place unpleasant to work, but there is often a flow on effect which is a negative impact on business outcomes.