Bullying: An equal opportunity blood sport

I once had a bullying supervisor. He was a couple of years older than me. Better educated, which he often reminded me. I hated coming to work. I was 19. Then one day I strongly hinted that the next time he went off I was going to hit him with a chair. Like hard, and for real. It helped that I had the chair in my hands at the time.

Problem solved. We worked together, more as coequals than friends, for years.

But that was then, this is now. Today he would probably be sent to HR for some counseling. I might spend the night in the lockup.

Then, as now, bullying is alive and well. It apparently happens all the time in lots of places. Bullies can be the top boss, a mid-level supervisor, or someone lower in rank. In government offices, the profile of the typical bully is as follows:

White/Black/Asian/Hispanic. About 25 to 70. Male/female. Supervisor/subordinate. Married/single: Abuser or one abused by his or her spouse. It can be the boss, his or her second-in-command or the lowest GS grade in the office. Hope that helps. That sound like anybody you know?

Last week, I did a couple of columns about the bullying problem in government offices. I’ve heard about it for years, known people with problems (maybe some who were the problem), and heard of situations. Wham! The response has been overwhelming. We have been inundated with messages from people talking about the situation in their agency, their office or their own personal work life.

Work, next to your loved ones and your (their) health is probably the most important aspect of your life. It puts food on the table, pays the rent and, if you are lucky, makes you feel good. For many people, it says who you are. In a place like rank-conscious D.C., people at a party don’t ask what kind of car you drive or your favorite vacation spot. They ask what you do. If it is interesting you are a winner. If you are retired, a housewife or a househusband, adios! So work, for a lot of reasons, is important. Being miserable on the job because of a supervisor, coworker or a subordinate can be a nightmare that never ends. Some comments:

”Yes! Bulling is alive at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (but not how you think).

“Senior officials talk out of both sides of their mouths about it. On the one hand, they hold day-long seminars for supervisors about how to effectively manage employees and on the other hand, when supervisors attempt to reign in toxic employees (who were bullying their supervisors, other employees or contractors) following the outlined process, the executives don’t back them up. In fact, one of the senior executives has been coaching the toxic employees on how to circumvent the established disciplinary process and encourages them to file bogus EEO complaints. …

“The supervisors also feel as if they have been bullied as well because nothing has ever been done to discipline this senior executive who uses the power of her position to bully the GS 15s vicariously through their own employees.” Not “IT” at USDA

“I’ve experienced bullying — either as the target or a witness — in government and industry. I found a book that deals with the issue head-on. ‘The No A-Hole Rule’ written by a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and it gave me personal emotional coping skills.

”So why do people tolerate it: Senior management allows it, believing the bully is doing great work.

        Read more: Mike Causey

“Is it an expression of power? Yes.

“Is it similar to sexual harassment, another form of expressing power? Also, yes.

“They can appear together. In both cases (sexual harassment and bullying) reporting it is a potential job and CAREER ending move. The employee reporting is permanently contaminated in future employment — anywhere.

“The real question is a matter of risk balancing: How bad is the emotional damage from continued bullying vs. the risk to the employee’s ability to continue seeking employment in the current job or somewhere else?

“Successful cases I have seen: Bullying is reported as the employee is leaving for a safe location; all employees band together and are able to force out the bully, or, the employee has an ironclad case for investigation by the Inspector General.” John

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

On April 26, 1941, an organ was played for the first time at a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois.

Source: On This Day

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