Susan Vipperman
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

Workplace bullying: The wolves in sheep’s clothing

A bully. A term learned at a young age. The playground bully. The school bully on the bus, in the lunchroom, in the bathroom and by our lockers. The ones who make us not want to go to school, afraid to walk to classes, would make us get a tardy, go hungry, hold our pee all day, take an “F" in gym rather than confront them. Then we grew up. Now, the workplace bully has arrived on the scene. We all grew up, graduated, supposedly freed ourselves from persecution. Right? Wrong. Just as cliques and backstabs and romances have never quite been outgrown, neither has the bullying. It has evolved and grown, graduated and made its way into the adult world, same as we have. Some of the elementary bullying tactics have been lost in maturity as we have grown older, some have changed into more sinister and veiled ways, i.e. the wolves in sheeps clothing. The adult bully coerces, discriminates, and profiles an individual through intimidation, gossiping, backstabbing, tattling, threatening, and any other narcissistic tactic meant to illicit a certain reaction or behavior from an individual. Although the means evolve, the basic principle did not. At the end of the day, this is nothing more than schoolyard bullying driven by insecurity and a need for control. Gossiping about a fellow employee? Tattling on an employee? Spreading rumors with no solid validity? Threatening someone to “ behave a certain way, or else" , or “ someone feels threatened because of your background, size, or looks makes an environment in which you cannot be a part of, even though you haven’t done anything necessarily, but you bother people" makes you “ unemployable" . Labels. When did it become a norm in adult professional society to label others? Understand I do not promote or condone lawless behavior or only adhering to rules and principles when its convenient. What I am addressing is the high school environment and mentality which seems to have invaded our society to the extent in which it has become a detriment. Making sole judgements and decisions on an individual based on their past , or by the opinions of others is the opposite of progress. Not to say these shouldnt bear weight. They should to a certain degree. But at what point have we crossed the line ? Should we judge a largely built person with military background as a threat? That is profiling. If another employee at the same company has exhibited behaviors of uncontrollable anger and proven lashing out by tantrums( throwing things, yelling, stomping around like 2 year olds who didnt get their way) are allowed to continue employment, and another individual who is angry at times and outspoken is fired under the guise of being a “bully" because they pose a “ threat due to their military background and large size, they make others feel uncomfortable" is terminated, is that not discrimination? The real bullies are the workplace gossips and tattletales, those who target a person based on their personality traits being more likeable than others. How is continually dragging a person into disciplinary action repeatedly over strong opinions and feelings any different than an abusive relationship in which a person is gaslighted into certain behavior patterns ? Its creating a robotic environment in which individuality and creativity is erased. And it becomes a Stepford story. And breeds a society of depression and loss of morale, which in turn makes your employees apathetic , affecting performance. Then the bottom line is affected, resulting in profit loss . Be a hand up of encouragement, not a smackdown of punishment. The real bullies are your wolves dressed as sheep, crying victim as while they destroy other instead of encouraging through positive feedback and people management. #handup #bethechange #therealbullies