Are you a workplace bully? Have you ever been bullied at work?

Bullying can have a profound effect on you whether in the workplace or personally. Focusing on the workplace, I have worked alongside bullies, been bullied myself and  found a way to cut through what they are trying to achieve (which is generally not very much at all). What led me to write about this subject came from a candidate interviewed the other day that was wanting to leave their current role due to a bullying work environment. If you have been bullied before, you could understand why.

What needs to be distinguished is whether you are actually being bullied or not. Sometimes you may just not fit a work culture that enjoys having a bit of fun at each other’s expense or you may feel victimised by a manager that is micro-managing you due to your lack of performance in the role. It’s a matter of stepping back and assessing what is happening and removing your emotion at the time. Speaking with others that have been bullied and from my own experiences, we found that bullies generally had a number of traits:

• They presented as strong characters in the workplace however often had a weak link to their life outside of work
• Career bullies (you know the ones) are experts at bullying a person covertly and make it very hard to prove that they actually were doing it
• The best ones usually have a number of other staff that “report back to” or encourage them
• They have a “set of unwritten rules” that others in the team must follow – step outside that and you will soon know what they are
• They have nothing of substance to contribute at team meetings (hmmm… fancy that!!!)
• They love the terms “just kidding” or “just having a joke” or “don’t be so serious” to cover for what they are doing
• The colleagues that they generally attract to their group are victims themselves of this person’s bullying and are generally relieved that the “heat” is off them now, would rather not “rock the boat” and just let it happen