{"id":11587,"date":"2015-03-04T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T15:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.wework.com\/?p=11587"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:43:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:43:00","slug":"consider-leadership-style-boss-bully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/consider-leadership-style-boss-bully","title":{"rendered":"Consider your leadership style: Are you being a boss or a bully?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is your leadership style alienating your team?<\/i><\/a> Round Table Companies founder Corey Blake differentiates the good boss, \u00a0an effective leader who raises team morale and productivity, \u00a0from the office bully whose ego reigns supreme.<\/i><\/p>\n

Your toughness, single-mindedness, and take-no-prisoners attitude helped you become a successful entrepreneur. But now, just as it should all be coming together, something is not right.<\/p>\n

In meetings, your staff claims everything is on track, yet you keep getting blindsided by crises. Why didn\u2019t your staff come to you before the problems escalated?\u00a0When you talk with employees, they avoid eye contact and skitter away as soon as possible. When you ask a question, no one wants to answer. You may yell and threaten occasionally (alright, frequently), but feel that\u2019s what it takes to get people to act.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re frustrated because nobody gets your vision or works as intensely as you do. It doesn\u2019t help that people on staff keep quitting. You\u2019d think that by now, the hiring managers would know how to hire the right people.\u00a0Sure, you may be a demanding boss, but isn\u2019t that required in today\u2019s tough and competitive market?<\/p>\n

Maybe not.<\/p>\n

Understanding The Issue<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

As author and coach\u00a0Devin C. Hughes<\/a>\u00a0recently shared with me in an interview on office bullying, most bully-bosses don\u2019t recognize how their behavior has labeled them. But when you create an intimidating, disrespectful, and degrading atmosphere in the office, the reality is yes<\/i>, \u00a0you are<\/i> a bully.<\/p>\n

A workplace bully looks much different than the pubescent version who steals kids\u2019 lunch money. Take Devin\u2019s example of Ted: a successful entrepreneur, he\u2019s been a go-getter all of his life. He knows how to achieve goals, whether it is envisioning and creating a brilliant startup or inspiring a group of investors to get involved. He\u2019s always had a huge ego, but his accomplishments made it easy to excuse his behavior as, \u201cTed just being Ted.\u201d<\/p>\n

But now that the business has grown and more people are on board, Ted\u2019s leadership is truly problematic. He doesn\u2019t listen to his staff when they want to share ideas. Instead, he belittles them. He may yell or berate them if they make a mistake, or he may be more subtle, using sarcasm, condescension, or exclusion to get his disapproval across. In any case, it is effective in the moment. However, employees no longer try to share ideas, concerns, or problems with him and eventually, valuable employees either shut down or quit.<\/p>\n

Breaking Down Office Bullies<\/b><\/p>\n

This is not an extreme case. According to the\u00a0Workplace Bullying Institute<\/a>, 72 percent of bullies are bosses. That tough, uncompromising, bulldozer approach that garnered initial success doesn\u2019t work as the business grows and requires higher-level management skills like building teams, infusing passion, and creating collaboration. In fact, that bullying atmosphere won\u2019t only keep a company from growing; it can lead to its downfall.<\/p>\n

Bullying causes increased physical and emotional stress on employees. This leads to illness, absenteeism, decreased productivity, and employee turnover. It affects employee morale and your overall culture. \u201cChances are,\u201d says Devin, \u201cif you show that bullying behavior is acceptable, other people are probably doing it in other areas of the organization. That means you have a culture where the people who should be the cornerstones of your organization are afraid to come to you. Instead of taking the chance that you\u2019ll berate them about a problem, they\u2019ll attempt to handle it themselves, only coming to you when it is clearly out of hand. Instead of coming to you with innovative ideas, they will quit and go to the competition. Still, others will stay and be minimally productive since they are not invested in the vision at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking At The Man (Or Woman) In The Mirror<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re a full-fledged bully or just an occasional pain, it doesn\u2019t hurt to take Devin\u2019s advice and look at how your behavior is affecting your workplace.<\/p>\n

1. Examine Your Own Actions<\/b> Do you treat employees with respect, whether or not you think they\u2019ve earned it? Do you treat all employees fairly, or are you tougher on some more than others? Do you threaten, berate, degrade, or intimidate anyone on your staff?<\/p>\n

2. Take A Look At The Results<\/b><\/b> Do employees come to you with problems, or do they avoid you? Are they willing to debate ideas with you, or do they become yes-men as soon as you\u2019ve made your position clear? Does the room become deadly quiet as soon as you\u2019ve spoken? After a verbal exchange with you, do your employees look motivated and encouraged or diminished and defeated?<\/p>\n

3. Check With Others<\/b><\/b> Ask a mentor, a coworker, HR, or a counterpart in a different company for feedback on your behavior.<\/p>\n

Bullying, even occasionally, is a deep-seated habit. But it can be unlearned, usually through therapy and behavior modification. Recognizing that you may be a bully is the first step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is your leadership style alienating your team? Round Table Companies founder Corey Blake differentiates the good boss, \u00a0an effective leader who raises team morale and productivity, \u00a0from the office bully whose ego reigns supreme. Your toughness, single-mindedness, and take-no-prisoners attitude helped you become a successful entrepreneur. But now, just as it should all be coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":11596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConsider your leadership style: Are you being a boss or a bully?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At no point in life is it acceptable to be bossed around by others \u2014 yes, that includes our supervisors. Are you more of a boss or a bully? 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