I have been involved in many bullying cases from the point of view of the target. Interestingly I have been approached twice in the past week by individuals who have been on the other end of the accusation spectrum. They told me in horrified tones  “I have just been accused of being a bully.” Both were delivering feedback related to poor performance  to a…

I was born with light red hair. Back in the day it was called strawberry blonde which I never really understood, because strawberries are actually really red!  Sometimes and more ostentatiously I was a Titian blonde. Apart from the odd building site worker yelling “Hey ginge”  from time to time, I was never subjected to any sort of name calling, teasing or harassment that many redheads are now…

Why technology has made making a fresh start more difficult once we have damaged a professional reputation. Reputation has been a topic covered by many thought leaders and philosophers from  Shakespeare, to Socrates and more recently Warren Buffet who says:  “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think  about that,…

MOBBING  – URBAN DICTIONARY Bullying, psychological terror or aggression, hostile workplace behavior, workplace trauma, incivility, emotional violence resulting in emotional injury affecting the target’s mental and physical health. Mobbing is an English word, but one I first came across being used by non Anglophones to describe the subtle difference between covert emotional abuse in the work…

The right to be offensive Workplace humour has a dark side. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire I found myself the other evening at the heart of a heated dinner debate and somewhat surprisingly not in the majority camp either. The issue:…

This post was orignally a guest post for Ann Lewis author of “Recover your balance: How to bounce back from bad times at work” Take a stand In my research for my series on the bullying of women in the work place by women, I was contacted by a huge number of women and somewhat…

One story on women and workplace bullying A few months ago I wrote about a client who I called Jane. She sparked my interest in workplace bullying, specifically in the bullying of women by women. It was enlightening and eye-opening. I shared my discovery experience of the whole process via a series of posts, which hopefully you…

How do changes in workplace language effect us and what is the impact of swearing on the %!@x* job? I am no stranger to the odd expletive. I was recently defrauded by a client and I have to confess that my vocabulary was related to the legitimacy of his parentage, rather than “dash and oh dear”.…

Is there really a lipstick jungle –  some would say so. For many women, organisations are not safe places. Not only are they more likely to be bullied by a man, but also by another woman. For many  the lipstick jungle is real and bullying leaves indelible scars, ultimately impacting their long-term view of their…

The role of the organisation in bullying This research project has been eye-opening in many ways. So many interesting and contentious points have been raised that it has taken me a while to synthesise them. What is the role of the organisation in bullying?  What do they do about this phenomenon? Answer – not a…