Bullying Bosses Beware!

It is the very classic childhood fairy tale that someone who was considered ugly at school, never picked for a team, later on becomes stunning, with a very happy successful life. Even Einstein was kicked out of his math class for daydreaming. Nowadays workplace bullying is becoming as common as playground bullying, the same scenario happens in the working environment too. When someone gets dismissed from a job, bullied out of it, or passed over for promotion this can be the making of them.

Take the examples of Oprah Winfrey and J K Rowling who were sacked from their jobs, this was a factor that fueled the success that came later. Karren Brady asked for a higher salary in a job and a company car but the potential employer declined because of her age. Years later this same employer offered her a job to which Karren Brady responded, “my fee has gone up now.” If this same employer was to approach her again he would after address as her as Baroness Brady.

It is also becoming common amongst women especially to leave nine to five jobs and become self employed. Although it is promoted on paper, there are still some unfair practices in the workplace for women. They often chose self employment for better work life balance, then become more successful in that field.

When someone gets sacked from a job that often fuels them to get a better job or become self employed. Often if someone is passed over for promotion they will seek the promotion in another department or another employer. When people feel frustrated at work, often on the quietly they pursue other hobbies and sidelines, or spend time freelancing before eventually handing in there notice.

Employers may feel they are commanding authority and they have power but actually they are giving employees a catalyst to go on and do better. If someone wants to leave an organisation, some employers will even put barriers there like not giving time off for an interview or the threat of a bad reference. These employers need to be aware that these barriers can be overcome. Alternative references can be sought and some potential employers will even do interview out of working hours.

When employers bully employees, block developmental opportunities and promotion, they may feel triumphant about creating these blockages. In reality these employee’s skills could be better deployed somewhere else and that employee may eventually go onto to be more successful than their ex boss. Later on in life, this ex boss may have to address their ex member of staff by a title.

If employers feel that depression is another factor they can use to prevent promotion or any other developmental opportunity they need to think again. People who are depressed are not incapable if anything many of them are highly creative, capable individuals. Both JK Rowling and Oprah Winfrey have suffered with depression, but that has not hindered success. Often some sort of exciting project is exactly what someone with depression needs in the workplace, as long as the depression is managed. Lack of stimulation in the workplace can exasperate depression, eventually leading to loss of the job.

Taking my own example, there was a point in my life when I was undergoing health problems and had a boss who was using this against be to block all promotion and developmental opportunities. There was an opportunity that came up where I could have utilised my journalistic skills. I was not even allowed to apply for the opportunity, never mind applying and being unsuccessful. Today looking to the future, I am sitting here writing this article, I hope my ex boss is reading this. Both my health problems and the undermining boss have fueled me to do better. I had a lot of blocked promotions but I sought strength in my own abilities. I knew I had no shortage of talents, skills and qualifications I could fall back on. This gave me the strength to take a different path in life. People cannot put barriers up forever and block progress indefinitely.

If there are any boss out there feeling smug about preventing someone's promotion, put the reveling on hold. Any employee’s feeling deflated should use this as a tool to do better in life. The old school ground expression about bullies being cowards with insecurities of their own rings very true. These bosses who think they have authority because their employees are scared of them must have insecurities of their own. They may know that many of their employee’s are actually more capable than them, so they belittle and bully to get rid of the competition. This will not last forever as incompetence eventually comes to the surface and caterpillars eventually become butterflies.