Work Babble

Bullying In The Workplace – Facing Big Bad Bosses

By Tony Deblauwe

The amount of information you can find on bully boss behavior is staggering. There are thousands of internet links on the subject, not to mention books, support groups, organizations, and legal funds dedicated to this specific form of bad boss behavior.

Bullying in the workplace is such a common problem that according to a 2007 Zogby poll published by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 37% of U.S. workers have been bullied on the job. Unsurprisingly, bosses represent a staggering 72% of the offenders. What’s worse - women are more likely to be targets than men, but anyone in a subordinate position is at risk.

Coaching others through the experience of bully boss behavior is never easy. Human Resources departments, legally, have to follow certain rules of engagement whenever someone is accused of misconduct regardless of the form the harassment takes. This lack of an outlet, coupled with fear of job loss, keep many stories under wraps. After all, it takes a lot of courage to come forward and admit your boss is acting in a threatening manner.

Working for a bully is a humiliating, stressful experience. In fact, it is a leading cause of job stress for many employees. Unfortunately, the problem has escalated in tandem with the current economic crisis. In a June 2009 WBI survey, 27.5% of respondents stated that bullying in the workplace had increased in severity since the recession began. With unemployment on the rise, bad bosses have more leeway than ever to make life miserable for the average employee.

Isn’t This Illegal?

Only 1 in 5 instances of workplace bullying actually rise to the level of illegal discrimination or harassment. Even in those cases where employment laws are broken, workers rarely complain and virtually never sue. Workplace bullying laws have seen success in some countries, but in the U.S. adoption is limited.  And is this really the answer? How do you regulate the parameters that define bullying behavior? It’s a bit more elusive than sexual harassment and cannot be defined by the same straightforward criteria. Whereas a sexual advance can be clear, no two people may agree on what constitutes bully behavior, or at least what the pattern looks like. For one person a boss can be considered demanding, and for another, the boss is a bully.

The bottom line is that employees have to develop a plan around how to address their work environment. They have to decide what outcomes they want and devise a strategy to get there. Withdrawing or doing nothing only perpetuates the problems so action is essential.

What can you do (in the moment) when dealing with a big bad boss?

Be prepared to vary these tactics depending on the situation you’re in. Workplace relationships are like any other – there’s a level of trial and error until you find  a process that works. People often get so wound up in the emotional aspects of what’s not working, how it isn’t fair, etc that the victim mentality sets in, and you give all of your personal power away to your boss.

1.       Focus on the conversation at hand. Don’t cower when you bully boss comes knocking. Don’t be intimidated by the demanding behavior or tone, just cut to the chase. What does he or she need, and ask questions related to that. It doesn’t matter how your boss is acting, its what is needed to get the job done that counts. You want to train yourself to toss aside the verbal in-your-face posturing and get to the matter at hand. It keeps you focused, and without a victim reaction, your boss will be more defused and switch behavioral gears.

2.       Jot down some notes. In the moment, it will look like your taking notes on a work task anyway. You may or may not necessarily use your notes with HR, but having your own document trail that includes date, time, and summary of the incident. Look for patterns – is your boss more of bully around certain time periods, people, or events. Think of it like an experiment. You’re studying the behavior in order to finds ways to counteract it. It will make you more astute and focus on moving forward.

3.       Have the last word. After your boss is done talking, clarify what you are going to do. Provide a quick summary of actions and emphasize when you’ll deliver. Establishing equal footing with a bully boss requires confidence in your contribution to the business needs not your boss’s needs. Showing that you are ready and capable to deliver what’s expected regardless of your boss’s behavior or demands is critical to developing a long term solutions that can transform the relationship.

These tactics represent a small piece of an overall strategic plan. The severity of the bullying varies and only you can determine how much you can take. You may not get as far as suggesting a policy banning bullying in your workplace, but taking control of the communication with your bullying boss is possible.

 

Steve Jobs: The Return of the World's Greatest Storyteller: 7 Tips to Sell Your Ideas the Steve Jobs Way

By Carmine Gallo,
Author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience

Apple’s Steve Jobs returned to a standing ovation at a special music event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 9^th, marking the return of the world’s greatest corporate storyteller. For more than three decades, Steve Jobs has elevated product launches to an art form. His techniques, sharpened over the years, can be used by CEOs, entrepreneurs, small business owners, educators or anyone who wants to inspire an audience. Here are seven ways that Steve Jobs dazzles an audience, and so can you.

Create a “holy smokes” moment. Every Steve Jobs presentation has one moment that leaves everyone in awe—the water cooler moment. These “moments” are scripted ahead of time to compliment his slides, the Apple Web site, press releases and advertisements. In 2008, Jobs pulled the MacBook Air out of a manila, inter-office envelope to show everyone just how thin it was. Bloggers went nuts and it was the most popular photograph of the event. On September 9, 2009, the “water cooler” moment wasn’t a product at all. Instead, it was Steve Jobs himself walking onstage after a long, health related absence. He told the audience he now had the liver of a mid twenties person who died in a car crash and was generous enough to donate their organs. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for such generosity,” he said.

Stick to the rule of three. The Rule of Three is one of most powerful concepts in writing. The human mind can only retain three or four “chunks” of information and Jobs is well aware of this principle. A Steve Jobs presentation is typically divided into three parts. During the September 9^th event, Jobs outlined the presentation into three areas: iPhone, iTunes and iPod. Jobs has even been known to have fun with the principle. At Macworld 2007, he introduced “three revolutionary products;” an mp3 player, a phone, and an internet communicator. After repeating the three products several times, he disclosed the big announcement—all three would be wrapped up in one, the iPhone. The rule of three turned into a water cooler moment. Ask yourself, what are the three things I want my audience to know? Not twenty things, just three. You can get away with more points in written form (like an article) but stick to three in public presentations and verbal conversations.

Share the stage. Jobs rarely gives an entire presentation himself. Instead he surrounds himself with a supporting cast. He had a large supporting cast at the September music event including Apple’s VP of product marketing, Phil Schiller and iTunes software designer, Jeff Robbin. At least four game developers took to the stage as well. Songwriter Norah Jones capped it off. Of course, you’re not going to have Norah Jones wrap up your next presentation, but if you can share the presentation with another team member (or customer) by all means, do so.

Introduce heroes and villains. Every great drama has a hero and a villain. Steve Jobs is a master at creating drama. We see this technique as far back at 1984 when Apple first introduced the Macintosh. Jobs set up the product launching by painting a picture of IBM “big blue” bent on “world domination.” Apple, he said, would be the only company to stand in its way. The crowd went nuts. One can argue that the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” ads are hero vs. villain vignettes played out in thirty second ads. Great presentations have an antagonist—a common enemy—so the audience can rally around the hero. Your brand and your product play the role of the hero.

Think visually. Apple presentations are strikingly simple and visual. For example, there is very little text on a Steve Jobs slide. While the average PowerPoint slide has 40 words, there were far fewer than forty words in the first dozen slides of the September music event. When Jobs talked about the popularity of iPhone around the world, his slide showed 23 flags of different countries instead of country names. When said the iPhone app store was celebrating its first anniversary, a slide appeared with a birthday cake holding one candle. When he talked about lower iPod prices, the new price was accompanied by photos of the iPods. This is what psychologists call “picture superiority.” It simply means that ideas are more easily recalled when presented in text and images than in text alone.

Create Twitter-friendly headlines. Apple makes it simple for the media to talk about their products—the company writes the headlines for them. Now, reporters will tell you that they like to come up with their own headlines, but why then did hundreds of them use “World’s thinnest notebook” to describe the MacBook Air? Because that’s the way Steve Jobs described it, and frankly, it’s hard to come up with a better way of saying it. Jobs always describes a new product with a concise phrase that fits well within a 140 character Twitter post. What’s an iPod? “One thousand songs in your pocket.” What’s Genuis Mix for iTunes? “It’s like having a DJ mix the songs in your library.” If you can’t describe what you do in one sentence, go back to the drawing board.

Sell dreams, not products. Steve Jobs is passionately committed to changing the world and his passion shows in every presentation. Anyone can learn the specific techniques he uses to create visually creative slides, but those slides will fall flat if delivered without passion and enthusiasm. When Jobs introduce the iPod in 2001, he said that music was a transformative experience and that in its own small way, Apple was changing the world. Where most observers saw a music player, Jobs saw an opportunity to create a better world for his customers. That’s the difference between Jobs and the vast majority of mediocre leaders—Jobs is genuinely committed to changing the world and he’s not afraid to say it.

Steve Jobs is the most extraordinary communicator on the world stage today. Learn all of his techniques in Carmine Gallo’s new book, The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, available everywhere books are sold. To learn more visit www.carminegallo.com/stevejobsbook

©2009 Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. 

Author Bio

Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience, is a presentation, media-training, and communication-skills coach for the world's most admired brands. He is an author and columnist for Businessweek.com and and a keynote speaker and seminar leader who has appeared on CNBC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC.com, BNET, RedBook, Forbes.com, and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Investor's Business Daily, as well as many other media outlets. Gallo lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a former vice president for a global, top-ten public relations firm. For more information please visit www.carminegallo.com

Thanks Carmine. Today being “top of mind” is a real challenge with the bombardment of information. This is not different at the office where shrinking budgets only allow for a few ideas to be funded. Believe in your concept and promote it diligently making sure your audience knows where your passion and focus lie.

Why Unemployed College Grads Should Channel Their Inner Entrepreneur

By Donna Fenn,
Author of Upstarts!: How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success

Last spring, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment among 18 to 25-year-olds was a staggering 16.1%. That was grim news for college grads, plenty of whom headed straight to grad school, or promptly moved their belongings into the family basement. If you are among this army of unemployed or underemployed young people, it's time you considered another option: start your own business. 
 
In the middle of a recession? Absolutely. Lots of great companies were founded in lousy economies: Trader Joe's, Clif Bar, MTV and Wikipedia are among them. Typically there's an uptick in startup activity during recessions. Why? Resources are cheaper, there's an available talent pool, and big companies that are focused on keeping their heads above water often let quality and service go by the wayside. That all spells opportunity for smaller, innovative, and agile players. Besides, what have you got to lose? Probably not much right now. You're young and you probably don't have a mortgage and a family to support. And rumor has it that you don't mind sleeping on futons or eating lots of Ramen. So if you've got an idea percolating, here's how to get started:
 
1. Choose partners wisely. Of the entrepreneurs I surveyed for my book, Upstarts: How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business (McGraw-Hill, 2009), 64% had started companies with partners. There's a good reason for that. A partner will minimize your financial risk and instantly expand your knowledge base, provided you choose someone with skills complimentary to your own. Do not sign on with "mini-me!" Your partner should hold your feet to the fire, but also be supportive when things get tough. Sound like marriage? It is, but riskier. So lay out the terms of your partnership in writing with an attorney. Be sure to address what happens if one of you wants out. One more thing: note that these points about partners come before we even discuss your idea. Every venture capitalist worth his or her salt will tell you that the team is more important the idea. Even if you never plan to seek outside investors, remember this mantra: it's the team, stupid!

2. Don't be a perfectionist. Launch your product or service fast and imperfectly, because the more time you spend planning and tweaking, the more time you give a competitor the chance to sneak up behind you and eat your lunch. And if you launch quickly, customers will typically help you adapt your product according to their own needs. When Sam Altman launched Loopt, a personal GPS-like mobile application, his first version was a flop with young women who demanded better privacy settings. The result: Altman took that customer feedback and used it to create a better version of Loopt -- one that customers felt invested in because they helped create it.

3. Tap outside resources. They're more plentiful than you think. You might start with your alma mater. Miles Lasater and Mark Volchek, the Yale University-based founders of Higher One, a financial services company that focuses on the higher education market, did just that. They sent out a selective mailing to prominent Yale alumni simply seeking out sound advice and ended up getting a chunk of financing as well. Also, don't be afraid to ask people in your own industry for help; if they're in non-competitive markets, they may be surprisingly helpful. Brian Adams, the founder of Restoration Cleaners in Houston, assembled a peer group of 12 dry cleaners in different parts of the country to help him learn about the industry, thus shortening his leaning curve. 

4. Be a proud bootstrapper. It's wildly difficult to raise capital right now. No worries. Sure, you need some cash, but probably not as much as you think. If you have a good credit rating (and you had better!), apply for a line of credit before you actually need it; draw your vendors into your company vision and negotiate favorable terms with them; ask all partners to tap into their own savings so that everyone has skin in the game. Remember that having limited resources often forces you to make better decisions and to be financially disciplined from the get go. This will serve you well as you grow. My Upstarts! survey revealed that while approximately half of the companies that had received angel or venture funding were in the black, nearly 80% of the self-funded companies were profitable!

Author Bio
Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts!: How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success and Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack, is a contributing writer at Inc. magazine. An expert on small business trends and entrepreneurship for more than 20 years, she is also a community leader on Work.com, a featured expert on SBTV.com, and a blogger on Inc.com. She lives in Pelham, NY, with her husband, Guian Heintzen, and is the proud mom of two GenYers. For more information please visit  www.upstartsrock.com

 
©2009 Donna Fenn, author of Upstarts!: How GenY Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success

 

Thanks Donna. The ability for new grads to find alternatives to starting their career is key. It's a classic lemons to lemonade story where collaboration, openness to new experiences, and finding your niche is more true than ever.

Sex At Work: Guidelines to Avoiding a Sticky Situation

By Nicole Williams
Author of: Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success

Let’s face it. We spend more waking hours at work than at home. And considering the fact that men think about sex every 52 seconds (true stat!), to think that hookups aren’t taking place in the office is not only absurd, it’s naïve. Today’s working singles have little time to socialize with existing friends, much less meet enough new people to successfully find love.  An estimated 10 million couples met their mate at the office in 2003.  Some found themselves in sticky situations with far reaching career consequences, even resulting in the loss of their job. Others had a fling, married co-workers or engaged in extramarital affairs. It’s no longer just the classic image of the male boss chasing his female secretary around the desk. Women are initiating the trysts as well, and are even doing so with subordinates.

It is becoming more common for companies to ask workers to sign love contracts, which require them to alert their bosses to an office romance, confirm that it is indeed voluntary and inform them when they break up. Other companies have policies against in-office relationships. However, with or without these restrictions, negotiating an office love affair can be tricky. It’s difficult to avoid distractions, conflicts, and gossip, not to mention the complications if and when the relationship ends. Ultimately, if you start an office love affair, you need to keep your résumé up to date, because it’s likely that one of you will need to look for a new job.  Of course, if you understand the risks and insist on taking them for the sake of finding love, here are a couple of guidelines to follow:

Know Your Company’s Policy on Inter-office Dating
If there are special rules, make sure you talk together about it first and are clear about the potential ramifications before moving forward.

Don’t Keep It Secret
If you are hiding your relationship, it’s likely that you shouldn’t be in it in the first place.

Be Discreet and Act Professional
Nothing will put off your colleagues and superiors more than public displays of affection, much less sexual exchanges on office property. I’ve heard some great stories about the places in the office couples find to have sex; the boardroom seems to be the favorite, followed by the snack room and elevator. But these quickies are often discovered and may result in much more dire consequences than a little gossip around the cooler.

Be Aware of Sexual Harassment
This is true especially if you are thinking about starting a relationship with a subordinate. Even if you are both enthusiastic, if the relationship gets rocky, you might find yourself facing charges.  A subordinate is arguably incapable of consenting freely to a relationship with her supervisor, because of the inherent pressure and influence of a direct superior’s advances.  By the way, your company is the one that pays the harassment bill. And insurance doesn’t cover it.

Finally, if you find yourself in an office entanglement that has gotten tricky, or if you have doubts about how to handle the office politics around your affair, think about making use of the human resource department. They will be able to advise you and advocate for you should you need it. In general, while an office affair can work out, it’s often more trouble than it’s worth. But, as Shakespeare once put it, “The heart knows reason that reason knows not.” In other words, “sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.”

Author Bio:
Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success, is the best-selling author of Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success and Earn What You're Worth, and the founder of WORKS by Nicole Williams, the first media and content company marketed toward young professional women. Her advice is featured regularly in major media outlets including Elle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. Nicole also regularly appears on The Today Show, ABC's Primetime, Good Morning America, Fox News, and CNN.

You can visit Nicole's websites at www.NicoleWilliams.com and www.GirlOnTopBook.com.

©2009 Nicole Williams, author of Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success

Thanks Nicole for this great advice. Today more and more people are finding true love at work (or at least temporarily) which makes the landscape of work and life balance trickier. Always remember to be professional about your conduct and as Nicole points out, if things go wrong, reach out for help to avoid further problems.

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L3: Authenticity, Integrity and Balance

Glowan puts on a fantastic program called L3 Leadership. I enjoyed the course very much and it has immediate impact for people at all levels within an organization. In this Taking Time they talk about authenticity in leadership which is very critical these days with non-existent budgets and other cost cutting. I talked about a similar issue around transparency in leadership which is equally important in setting the right tone with the workforce.

Here is the rest of the Glowan tips:

"To thine own self be true" may be a well-worn platitude, but Shakespeare's wisdom is becoming a renewed priority among leaders and managers in today’s organizations.

"Being inauthentic can often be easily recognized by others and become a disruptive, negative force in an organization.

The importance of authenticity - the healthy alignment between internal values and beliefs and external behavior is a critical foundational element of successful leadership today. Being authentic, living a life that is strongly connected to one's belief system, is energizing and promotes growth, learning and psychological well- being - all important elements of effective leadership and leadership development. 

Authenticity incorporates six characteristics:

1.    Clarity about one's values, priorities and preferences.

2.    Acceptance of the necessity for choices and trade-off in life and work

3.    A strong sense of self-determination and self -direction.

4.    A willingness to work toward aligning one's values and behaviors.

5.    A high degree of comfort and satisfaction with decisions made in life and work.

6.    A deep commitment to telling the truth.

How can you achieve greater levels of authenticity?

Becoming an authentic leader doesn't happen once and it doesn't happen overnight, You have to work to remain authentic, reviewing your priori- ties and choosing behaviors that match those priorities as circum- stances change. Specific steps to take to better align your inner and outer selves include:

Assess and evaluate. Once you are aware of your deeply held values, it is important to review the choices you have made in work and life.

How aligned are your behaviors with your values?

Are there significant differences between what you say you value and how you spend your time and energy?

What have you already given up and what are you willing to give up now to get what is most important to you?

Create a support network for governing your values.

In any area of personal development, securing the support of others can help achieve goals. If you are making a change in your day-to-day life, share your goals with trusted colleagues and friends and ask for their support. At the same time, it's important to believe in yourself. Sometimes acting authentically means going against what others tell you. Trust your instincts and take risks.

About Glowan
The Glowan consulting Group was formed in 1993 on the premise that individuals and organizations needed more that just pre-designed, prescripted "training" to meet their human development goals. Organizations and our societies are changing at a rate never seen before in our experience and we need tools, techniques and support systems to meet those new challenges. Glowan has been meeting those needs via our broad and deep offerings of Leadership and Management Development Services and Products. Visit www.glowan.com for more information.