The Bully Boss. We have all heard that phrase or something like it. We all have our own definitions of what it means. Boil it all down and it is a supervisor who acts inappropriately. It may be as intense as the boss who really is physically threatening or as low key as the leader who never says anything directly but drops lots of clues.
Every large enterprise has one (or more) from time to time and our Agency is no exception. There are several things required for a bully boss to exist.
The first thing is little or no training. Many ODOT employees are folks who job driven; tell them what to do and then get out of the way. They are mission oriented; get it done. The mission is more important than communication skills, more important than personnel skills. Many of these folks do well and invite increasing responsibility. With responsibility comes authority.
The second ingredient for the existence of a bully boss is fear. Fear is a two way street. Obviously there may be fear of the boss by those who work for him or her. Fear may also drive the bully boss. Fear of not getting the job done. Fear of work quality issues. Budget concerns. Timelines. Fear of failure.
The third and possibly the largest contributor to bully bosses is silence. Peers and workers not letting the supervisor know how their actions are perceived allows that supervisor to say she or he did not know. Not setting boundaries for acceptable behavior may encourage the bullying to continue and increase.
On 16 December 2007 I posted an article about ODOT crews in South Eastern Oregon and their story of dealing with a bully boss. There are other stories. Last weekend, at Astoria, leaders and organizers in our Union discussed how we might help our membership to deal with the bully boss. This blog is our first step. This blog is a two-way communication. It can be anonymous if desired. A separate page has been opened in this blog to deal with this issue. Local members can post their concerns & ask questions.
What would you like to see? What information would help you deal with a bully boss? If you currently work with an abusive superior – how can your Local help?
Finally, in our statewide labor management meetings we have been pushing for more training, both for managers and for those in Labor who desire to become managers. Invest in our people before we promote. For me it is a hard thing to argue that we need to promote from within and then argue against a former Union member, now a manager, who is in over their head.
I encourage you to not allow ignorance, fear and silence make our good jobs miserable.
mac
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4 comments:
I think that in life you largely get reflected back to you the attitudes that you yourself transmit. I am not criticizing you or putting you down for what you have written, but I am challenging you to put ego aside and look at your words again. You come across as challenging, spoiling for a fight. You created a blog to name bully bosses? The positive approach to your issue is to create a blog where exemplary bosses are identified and there is discussion about what makes them so good as a supservisor. What qualities do they have that other ODOT bosses should strive to have? If you approach the problem that way then you create a positive situation that is much more likely to bring about change. You won't be making anybody be defensive as they are attacked in your blog. Instead you will be complimenting those doing good things and challenging others to be like them so that maybe they can one day see their own name offered as a role model. It's really all about what your true intentions are here. Just my opinion and something for you to think about.
Intent is where I believe you have gotten it wrong. I base that belief in one word, so I may have misunderstood what you have written. We did not build a page to 'name bully bosses'. You are correct that would be spoiling for a fight.
The intent of the Bully Boss page is to identify and communicate strategies for dealing with Bully bosses. The page is to be a confidential location for these types of conversations, not a statewide poster for bad managers.
We know that putting names on the front page of the blog will discourage folks from using it. That style of leadership is not the style of the current leadership group.
There are folks in our Local who would do so. They consider Bully Bosses to be a threat to crewmembers. And they believe that upline management has no excuse for not knowing and not removing them. To continue to have bully bosses in positions of leadership shows an intent.
I, personally, agree that upline management has no excuse. Our leadership team is working to ensure that our crews have help building a strategy to correct the situation.
Our intent is to help the crew build their case. Identify Agency Policy violations with dates and times. Record contract violations with persons, places, times and dates. Find out what solutions the crew desires. Plot a path forward. Find ways to encourage the crew to face the situation together.
Our intent is to help Labor build a better place to work. Not wait for someone else to hand it to us. We believe a better place to work is a key ingredient to providing Quality Public Services for the citizens of Oregon.
If I may answer any questions please let me know. mac
I don't kniow. I have been waiting for more from the original author in response to Mac. Looks like he is not going to reply again. That's too bad because I think he is on to something. It really does not make much difference if you intend to publish names or not and its silly to make that the focus of the argument. The question is whether or not we should be focusing on positives or negatives. Anonymous said focus on positives to make change. Mac is saying focus on the negatives and prepare to force management to make changes. The old saying is correct that says, "You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar." Look at all the support that members are (not) giving for the negative approach on this blog. See what kind of support you might get for a positive message.
I agree with you and the old adage about honey versus vinegar. A distinct lack of imagination on my part make it hard for me to find the 'sweet side' of the issue of an abusive supervisor.
Once again the intent is not to focus on the positive or negative. It is to communicate with the Local about this hard subject and offer to help.
It sounds as if you have a different perspective. Can you help us get to positive side of this issue?
We floated a balloon; perhaps it turns out to be lead. mac
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