Bullies in the Workplace: It's Complicated

Her tone and manner are often bold, loud, and brassy. You’ll never wonder what she’s thinking because she will surely tell you. He’s often described as intimidating, self-centered, manipulative and conniving. What do they have in common? They are powerful and highly successful in business. Although Cookie and Lucious Lyon (portrayed by Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard) are fictional characters on Fox’s hit drama, Empire, their explosive personalities are a part of the fabric of some workplaces. 

In Empire, Cookie and Lucious constantly battle over the “music prize”, Empire Entertainment. They are often faced with volatile and threatening internal and external forces in and outside of the workplace. In some circles, their temperaments could be labeled as bullying and contributing factors for a fear-based work culture. How would their personalities and leadership styles be tolerated in today’s real world? What leadership attributes would aid in turning the workplace from intimidating to an environment where everyone is respected and valued?

According to the Harvard Business Publishing report, Leading Now: Critical Capabilities for a Complex World, effective leaders need the following knowledge, skills and abilities: 

1.   Successfully manage complexity – The ability to problem solve and make decisions despite changing work environments and organizational priorities.

2.   Manage global businesses – The ability to assess what's happening with consumers, competitors, the economy, and the politics of the markets in which the businesses operates.

3.   Act strategically – The ability to use forward-thinking approaches and adjust strategies to take advantage of opportunities and overcome unexpected challenges.

4.   Foster innovation – The ability to take the organization to the next level driven by the concept that there is always room for improvement.

5.   Leverage networks – The ability to build strong working relationships and collaborate not only professionally, but for the benefit of the organization as well as internally and externally with customers, suppliers, strategic partners and even competitors.

6.   Inspire engagement – The ability to keep employees at all levels interested and engaged in the organization’s goals and making them feel valued.

7.   Develop personal adaptability - The ability to “ride the organizational roller coaster” through continuous change and avoiding the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. Effective leaders seize valuable opportunities.

8.   Cultivate learning agility - Effective leaders never stop learning. They take advantage of any and all opportunities to learn from successes as well as failures.

Alternatively, workplace bullies in leadership roles are often bad for business. Their subordinates work in fear. They make the work environment toxic. Even with the well-known negative effects of workplace bullying, in some organizations, bullying leaders thrive. 

According to the report, Political Skill and the Job Performance of Bullies, co-author Darren Treadway, Ph.D states, “Our data suggests that bullies are actually quite successful on the job. They perform well. The problem is when someone is performing well, an organization is less likely to go after these people aggressively.”

David Yamada, a professor at Boston’s Suffolk University Law School, adds that the conventional advice to human resources is to have open door policies that allow victims to go around or “over” the bully and to train workers to identify bullying behavior. He adds that aggressors who are smart, successful and liked by their bosses don’t typically go about bullying blatantly.

Can a workplace bully change for the better? Given appropriate coaching and training—absolutely. It is a must that they have a true willingness to change or be subject to consequences. In some cases, therapy may be needed. It is an organization’s responsibility to ensure that bullying behavior is identified and addressed. Appropriate action must be taken to ensure a favorable and supportive work environment. 

Wilma Brockington-Parker, MS, MBA, SPHR, ACC is CEO and executive/professional coach at My Workplace Coach, LLC. She currently has openings for coaching clients and can be reached at 410-241-1346 or at [email protected].   Website: www.myworkplacecoach.com.