Organisational Behaviour: 'B' For Bully, 'B' For Boss-II

'B' For Bully, 'B' For Boss-II

Some self-defence techniques to handle despotic bosses ...

Reading Time: 5 minutes(799 Words)

Key learnings:

• Facts about bullying boss's behaviour
• Self-defence techniques to counter the same

Part one of this mailer discussed the different forms of bullying behaviour demonstrated by bosses. As a sequel, this mailer will delve into strategies that would help workers build effective self-defence strategies to deal with bullying bosses.

Bullying bosses, as mentioned earlier, are becoming increasingly common. This sudden upsurge in their number can be partly attributed to extreme competition leading to even higher stress levels. In addition, personal attributes of a manager add to the misery. Thus to counter the compounded impact of these factors, subordinates need to develop self-defence techniques that would help them deal with their bullying heads more diplomatically.

But before we delve into self-defence techniques, it is important to accept certain facts about bullying bosses. These facts are important revelations and provide a certain degree of exactness to the science of managing bullies.

Bully facts

• Avoid personal confrontations with bullying bosses since it will only worsen the situation.
• Personal confrontation with your immediate boss may be interpreted as a behavioural disorder by other seniors. And hence, your difference of opinion on an issue may get tagged as an act of insubordination.
• Bullies view justification of an action as cover-up of mistakes.
• Make eye contact with your bullying boss. It may annoy him but it will also convey your courage of conviction.
• Emotional bargaining rarely helps with bullies. When it comes to their interest, they are downright practical and insensitive. Hence, any attempt to win them over through emotional bargaining may backfire.

Understanding and accepting these facts will help workers maintain their guard while interacting with bullying bosses.The following self-defence techniques would enable workers to deal with their bullying bosses and rise above the misery of a tyrannical head.

Be systematic and meticulous
Workers need to treat their interaction with their bullying boss as an important strategic meeting. This implies that workers need to be extremely systematic and meticulous in their interactions and make a note of points that they feel are vital for betterment of their relationship. Workers also need to guard against getting emotional about the whole issue unnecessarily. They need to be more practical and approach the problem with an open mind.

Become a thinking warrior
A person's attitude determines his altitude. This implies that it is the thinking power of an individual that determines his success. Similarly, when workers work with an attitude of a warrior, their chances of getting victimised would drop drastically and they will begin to feel more comfortable in the presence of their bullying boss.

Identify subtle signs of bullyingWorkers should make a note of even the smallest incidence of bullying. The incident could be as insignificant as a glare but making a note of it would help workers understand the pattern of their boss's behaviour.

Stay connected
Bullies work their way through by alienating their subordinates. Hence, workers need to make an attempt to connect with others around them by taking time out for focussed conversation with a new person everyday.

Work with a positive attitudeWear a positive attitude. This, however, does not mean that one needs to compromise on one's self-esteem and take everything lying low. It only means that working with a positive attitude would help workers accept a bullying boss and prevent them from resorting to undue acts of aggression.

Maintain confidentiality on your personal frontExperts advise confidentiality of personal information. It is important for workers to guard their feelings about their bullying boss closely. For, unnecessary sharing of such information can complicate matters.

Try and stay in groups
Staying in groups minimises bullying opportunities. Thus, workers should try and stay with colleagues and other managers as far as possible. Bullying bosses generally hesitate to demonstrate their nasty side in the presence of others.

Bully or toxic?

Toxic bosses are a variant of bullying bosses. They are more common than their bullying counterparts. However, they elude the expert eye since their personality is deceiving. They seem perfectly humane initially but lose their human touch almost instantly. They are mean and conniving in their approach. Their ruthless approach to their subordinate's performance is a sure morale -dampener. However, they are great workers themselves. Hence, eliminating them from the system would result in a performance vacuum. Leaders, therefore, need to be extremely careful in dealing with toxic bosses since they can neither be hated nor loved; they just need to be managed.

Bullying or toxic- bosses have to be managed. The only difference between managing such bosses and others is that the experience in such cases is more adventurous. Hence, leaders and workers with an appetite for adventure are sure to succeed in their attempt to deal with their respective bullies.

By:
Amresh Anjan

Posted in: Articles