The following ten tactics are the most common ones used by bullies:

1.  Blaming the target for errors that do not actually exist

2.  Unreasonable job demands

3.  Excessive criticizing

4.  Inconsistent applications of rules and precedures to the target

5.  Threatening the target with termination

6.  Insults and put-downs

7.  Denying their accomplishments

8.  Exclusion and isolation

9.  Yelling, screaming and general verbal abuse

10.  Taking credit for the target’s ideas

In general, bullies are predators who sense weakness and prey on that.  They look for the easy target, and the target who will give them the biggest victory.  They are all about power and control.

Bullies are:

• Aggressors, manipulators, liars, ad/or predators
• People who have learned that aggression means success.  Bullying is a tool in their toolkit, albeit one that should be tossed in the trash.
• People who have not learned to take responsibility for their own behavior.
• In most cases, unable to realize how their actions impact others.  They blame the other person for not being tough enough, or good enough, to justify their actions.
• Usually unwilling to change.

Corporate Bullying:

This occurs when bullying becomes a way of life in a company or organization.

The bully may:

o    Force employees to work long hours
o    Pile an unreasonable amount of work on employees
o    Deny employees vacation and/or sick time
o    Have a “my way or the highway” attitude
o    Spy on employees in an attempt to find ammunition against them
o    Demand confidential information from employees (for example, why they required sick leave)
o    Pressure co-workers into filing, and/or falsifying complaints and problems with other employees
o    Punish or fire employees who cannot handle the workload

Displaced Bullying

Bullies may also behave covertly. A common tactic is to subtly pit two employees against each other and then fan the flames. (In Understanding, Controlling, and Stopping Bullies at Work, expert Margaret Kohut compares it to animal fighting.) The bully is entertained by the spectacle and enjoys the discomfort of the participants.

Serial Bullying

Serial bullies are one of the most dangerous types of perpetrators out there. This bully must always have someone to prey on. They often distribute traits similar to psychopaths, including:

o    Personality swings (Jekyll and Hyde)
o    Excellent ability to lie, charm, connive, con, and deceive
o    Charming and manipulative
o    Poor emotional development, resulting in shallow relationships

Mob Bullying

Mob bullying is when a group of individuals turns on one target.

Personality Disorders

Many personality disorders can result in bullying behavior, including:

• Narcissism
• Anti-social personality disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Paranoia
• Histrionic tendencies

Mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (formerly called manic depression) can also result in bullying behavior. This doesn’t mean that you have to put up with it, though. It just means that the bully needs help to stop their behavior.

They Like It

Some people are sadists – they get pleasure out of other people’s pain. Perhaps they don’t feel that they’re doing their job if your life is too easy. Or perhaps they feel that they need to bully you to help you grow. Whatever their motivation, they’re not justified in bullying others.

Personal Issues

Some people bully because of personal issues in their lives. Perhaps they are having a tough time at home and are taking it out on people at the workplace. Perhaps they are abusing drugs or alcohol, substances which can cause behavior problems. Regardless of what is going on in their personal lives, these problems are never an excuse to treat people poorly.

They’re Just Mean

Some people are just mean at the core. Think of the Grinch and how he treated everyone, even his poor dog! No matter what their personal issues or personality traits are, they need to learn to be civil and respectful in the workplace.

What struck me was how this is another form of workplace intimidation that takes place and nobody cares how this affects a person’s livelihood not to mention the psychological trauma it causes.

Many have said they have had to fight for their jobs every year and even though not all of the people who have received the pink slips are laid off, it takes away the focus of what the teachers are there for in the first place, which is teaching our children.

Intimidation by definition is: “to frighten someone into doing or not doing something, e.g. by means of violence or blackmail.”  Another word to describe intimidate is daunt, which means to “create a feeling of fear, awe or inadequacy in another person.”  Judith Munson, “Alligators in the Water Cooler, A Guide to Identifying Bullies & Their Buddies in the Workplace.”

To answer the question Are Pink Slips a Form of Intimidation?  I say yes.  What do you think?

The projection bully is the guy that yells and screams, get’s right up in your face to show everyone what a dominating figure head he can be. The projection bully can and undoubtedly will, given the opportunity, use email, instant messaging and text messaging to extend the reach of his bullying behaviors.

The passive aggressive bully who does things in the background to undermine and sabotage your work will have a field day with the new technologies that are now readily available to him. He is able to start rumors, promote lies and deceive people about the target using almost complete anonymity which therefore causes a great amount of distress not only to the target personally,but throughout the workplace too.

These workplace bullies are interested in only one thing, bringing down a target that they are jealous of and intimidated by. They will use any and all means at their disposal to do that, so don’t be surprised when you find derogatory remarks on your Facebook pages or twitter accounts. These can and should be blocked but still the damage is already done and going to work the next day after you get them can be a very traumatic experience.

Cell phones, ipads, computers and the internet open up a whole new set of tools for the workplace bully to use. Fortunately, these electronic devices are also able to be used against the bully as well. For instance, recording videos of bullying incidents with a cell phone or ipad with a camera in it.

And, most computers have a recording device ie. web cam or sound recorder that can be triggered whenever one of these episodes takes place that will catch the bully in action. A word of caution though. If you do record the bullying, make sure to store the file in a secure place or send it to your home computer as an attachment so you can save it there.

*******************************************************
Boston– The Massachusetts Healthy Workplace Advocates announced March 5 that the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill – Senate Bill 916 and House Bill 2310 – has progressed from the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and is due to go next to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Co-sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark of Melrose and Representative Ellen Story of Amherst, the bill provides workers with a legal right to seek damages for severe bullying behaviors that have caused physical or psychological harm. Employers who engage in preventive and responsive measures toward workplace bullying can eliminate or reduce their liability exposure.

“The progression of The Healthy Workplace Bill is a significant step forward for victims of workplace bullying,” said Senator Clark. “Although 16 states have fought to pass similar proposals, we hope that Massachusetts will become the first state to create a law that encourages employers to prevent bullying from occurring.”

“I am delighted by this favorable action,” said Representative Story. “Our biggest obstacle to passage of the bill is a lack of awareness that workplace bullying is a problem. I am hopeful that this progress will help publicize the widespread and damaging challenges presented by workplace bullying, and that the House will hear our call to act on this issue soon.”

According to a 2007 national survey by Zogby International and the Workplace Bullying Institute, 37 percent of workers have experienced some form of workplace bullying. This includes defamation, false accusations, yelling, insults and physical assaults, among other forms of harassment and abuse.

“Too many abused workers have no legal recourse, and too many employers treat complaints about workplace bullying dismissively or even side with the aggressor,” said David Yamada, Suffolk University Law Professor and author of the bill language. “Passing the Healthy Workplace Bill will protect workers against severe bullying at work and encourage employers to prevent behaviors that devastate productivity and morale.”

The Healthy Workplace Bill is supported by Massachusetts Healthy Workplace Advocates, a grassroots organization of concerned citizens seeking to protect Massachusetts workers from targeted psychological abuse at work.

Here’s that study.

The study involved 280 full-time employees and their spouses. Participants were asked how often supervisors behaved badly. In particular, the survey rated responses to statements such as “Puts me down in front of others,” and “Tells me I’m incompetent.”

Participants also rated statements about their home lives. Examples of the statements measured included, “Our family can express feelings to each other,” and “Our family is able to make decisions about how to solve problems.” Spouses were asked how often they were “Irritated or resentful about things your (husband/wife/partner) did or didn’t do,” or “Felt tense from fighting arguing or disagreeing with your (husband/wife/partner).”

Results show that while employees with bad bosses did not report problems with their families, their spouses often did. Employees who had bad bosses experienced more blow-ups between husbands and wives and had families that failed to communicate well. Dawn Carlson, the study’s lead author and a professor of management and the H.R. Gibson Chair of Organizational Development at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, explains the fallout of abusive behavior at work. According to Carlson, “It spills over and affects our families . . . . It translates into tensions with your spouse. And that leads to poor family functioning.” Linda Carroll, “Your boss may be ruining your marriage,” www.lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com (Dec. 12, 2011).

Many people all over the world have been bullied, mobbed, or mistreated in some form or another and never say a word to anyone. They feel they may be looked upon as being “wimpy” or that no one would believe them and help them so why bother telling anyone.

I have a friend who authored a book entitled “Mourning Has Broken, Reflections on Surviving Cancer” and as she told people about her book, she was invited to speak at different events within her community.  Now I must tell you that this person feels that the stress she suffered from being bullied at two different jobs contributed to her having breast cancer twice.  The more she spoke at different functions people were drawn to her because either they had suffered from cancer or knew someone who had.  By sharing her story of trauma and survival, she gave strength to others.

Don’t misunderstand today’s blog.  I’m not in any way, saying that if you are bullied or mobbed that you’re going to get cancer. This is just an illustration of why sharing your story is important.

Do you see any of the above scenarios taking place? If you do, you could be working for/with a Projection Bully.

Things Your Co-Workers Won’t Say

By Catey Hill | SmartMoney EG – Fri, May 6, 2011 3:00 AM EDT

Not all bullying is done by a boss, a manager, supervisor or whoever is above you.  Read on to see who else could be making your life miserable at work.

“Stop being such a bully.”

More than one in three people has been a victim of bullying in the workplace — from verbal abuse and intimidation to sabotage — according to a study conducted in 2010 by the Workplace Bullying Institute, a non-profit.

In most cases, the bully was a higher-ranking worker, but 28% of the time, it was someone at an equal or lower level. And often such harassment is inadvertent. For example, you may consider the teasing of a colleague good-natured, while it’s actually making him or her uncomfortable — not that you’d necessarily know it, says career coach David Couper. Just like at the playground, “people are scared of the consequences of calling a bully out.”

If it gets bad enough, it may cost a victim his job. More than 40% of women and 36% of men who had been the victim of bullying said they left their jobs because of it, a 2010 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute found. And that may be the best possible outcome. Workplace bullying can lead to “excessive and prolonged stress,” which contributes to a host of health problems, including both physical health issues like heart disease and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as mental health issues like depression and anxiety, says Dr. Joseph Cilona, a Manhattan psychologist. Treatment for depression, for example, can cost as much as $1,000 or more per month for counseling and medication, he says, and many insurance plans limit the number of therapy sessions per year.