How to Stop Bullying in the Workplace - Videos

I’ve posted two new videos on YouTube about how to stop bullying in the workplace.
1. How to Stop Bullying at Work | Signs of Overt Bullying in the Workplace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76YfNwlV2OM

2. How to Stop Bullying at Work: Signs of Sneaky Bullying
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqRnAhMPEKQ

The best way to overcome your hesitation and to learn effective leadership skills is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

You Don’t Have to Bully to Evaluate Honestly

Effective supervisors know that the life-blood of any company is feedback and criticism.  While both can lead to corrective action and termination, the idea is to improve attitude and performance.

You don’t have to be arrogant or a tyrant or bully to be effective.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
You Don’t Have to Bully to Evaluate Honestly
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/05/18/smallb4.html

Although some supervisors want to improve their skills and update their approach to fit new coaching and team-work paradigms, too many hesitate, thus encouraging destructive situations.  The bottom line: your team needs performance and your job is to guide the current employee or make room for someone new to produce what you need.

Feedback, even reprimand, is kinder than avoidance.  Evaluating is, in itself, success.

Magical thinking - hoping people will straighten out by themselves - doesn’t work and leaves you knowing that you’re afraid to do your job.

Generally the nicest, kindest and most caring act you, as a supervisor, can make is to provide feedback that gives employees a chance to improve in the areas where they, and you, will be judged.  Everyone needs to know the rules of the game.

Establish an environment of open give-and-take.

• Review often.  Give feedback rapidly, accurately, specifically, tactfully, firmly, legally and considerately.
• Take care of your own mental and emotional state and prepare your agenda in writing ahead of time.
• Don’t be off-handed.  Don’t be personal, sarcastic or manipulative.  Focus on behavior, not on name-calling or hallucinations about intentions.
• Begin the evaluation by listing goals accomplished, progress made, special commendations.  Give clear, specific examples of what you think happened and what’s not acceptable.
• Deal with things one at a time.  Distinguish excuses and justifications from analysis of processes that can be improved.

Ultimately, you know you must bite the bullet and honestly evaluate performance.  You’re not supposed to let things slide or make yourself a martyr by doing an employee’s job as well as your own or stab employees in the back by not evaluating them honestly.

The sooner you supervise effectively, the better the chances for success and the better you’ll feel.  That’s especially important for employees on probation where “an ounce of prevention will be worth pounds of flesh’ later.  You don’t have to be arrogant or a tyrant or bully to be effective.

The best way to overcome your hesitation and to learn effective evaluation skills is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to Stop Bullying at Work by Temper-Tantrum Bosses

Some bosses habitually manage by temper tantrum, as if they think throwing fits is the best way to maintain authority or increase productivity.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
How to Stop Bullying at Work by Temper-Tantrum Bosses
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/06/15/smallb4.html

Don’t put up with on-going harassment, bullying and abuse.  Take effective action.

• Don’t be a martyr.
•  Don’t explode.
• Don’t repress anger.
• Don’t try to relieve the pressure by negativity.

Here are some good choices for dealing with temper-tantrums.

• Put up with it until retirement.
• Fight it strategically.  Prepare to endure a long struggle.  Use the procedures and options your company has.  Make sure that coworkers see, hear and document outbursts.  Accept that there is usually a price for blowing the whistle.
• Go be happy somewhere else.  The boss probably wants you to think that you’re so pathetic and the market is so tight, you have no other options.  Go out in style and with a safety net.  If there’s a pattern of high turnover in that boss’ unit, point out the cost of his tantrums.

If you have a lifelong pattern of tantrum-throwing bosses and/or personal relationships, do some soul searching. You probably have old, self-sabotaging beliefs and strategies.

Insist on what you want; you’ll get what you’re willing to tolerate.

If you’re a temper tantrum boss, grow up.  If you think tantrums are the only way to manage, you’re suffering from a lack of vision and creativity.  Learn to manage and exert appropriate authority humanely.

If you think that someone is forcing you to act against your will, test the assumption.  Don’t remain in an environment where fits of rage are required of you; go where you can be successful while acting decently.

Of course, there are employees who won’t respond until you get in their faces.  You still don’t have to stamp your feet and act out.  Don’t keep employees who respond only to temper tantrums.

Master yourself and stand up for your values.

The best way to stop terminally resistant, controlling, toxic, bullying employees and managers who destroy teamwork and productivity is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to stop bullying at work: Respond immediately to the early warning signs

The greatest loss of a company’s vital strength is usually the continual loss of productivity caused by poor performers and “rotten apples” – people with low attitudes and negative, bullying, abusive, destructive behavior.  Often, this steady draining is overlooked as a background fixture because it doesn’t show up on one specific budget line

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
How to stop bullying at work: Respond immediately to the early warning signs
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1998/10/12/smallb4.html

Don’t look the other way because you’re too busy or worry that it will be too difficult to remove a troublesome employee or question your own judgment or fear that replacement people will be too hard to find or too costly.  These excuses aren’t sufficient compared to the hidden costs in low morale and productivity, and high sick leave and turnover.  Generally, 95% of your people-problem time will be spent on problems caused by 5% of your people.  Despite wishful thinking, infections don’t heal by themselves.

You don’t have to be a therapist to see the early warning signs.  You do have to be savvy enough to understand the value of lancing an infection before you need transfusions or of antibiotics before gangrene sets in.  Respond rapidly to the early warning signs in order to isolate the plague carriers from the employees who can elevate their productivity in response to caring, feedback and training.

Learn to stop harassment, bullying and abuse in its initial stages by responding swiftly and effectively to early warning signs.

Some early warning signs (see original article for details).  Beware of people who:

• Proudly express negativity, envy, blame, excuses, self-righteousness and name tags like, “professional critic”; who don’t listen to or value your concerns or who don’t understand why other people do what they do.
• Continually push the boundaries and limitations; say they’re entitled to whatever they want; insist that you bend or justify the rules; up-level demands as soon as you give in; jump to conclusions; take things personally or think in all-or-none terms; refuse to accept appropriate responsibility to produce until you make conditions absolutely perfect for them according to their standards.
• Disrespect coworker’s rights or privacy; sarcastically criticize others in public or in private; refuse to praise or reward when appropriate; take all the credit but not a share of the responsibility; resist legitimate authority and accountability.
• Have no heroes or mentors.

Teach yourself to recognize and document problems while they’re still molehills.  Notice when you repeatedly avoid or appease employees because it’s distasteful to deal with them or when you feel drained just thinking about them.  Pay attention to which workers you mentally carry like monkeys on your back.  Be aware of whose slack always needs picked up by others.

Begin feedback and corrective action on day-one of probation.  Act as if the chances of getting sued by rotten apples increases by 1% each day you let them stay without documenting their behavior.

Your best safeguards are continual evaluation, documentation and determined willingness to treat problems immediately, before the infection spreads.

Employees should scrutinize bosses using the same criteria.

The best way to stop terminally resistant, controlling, toxic, bullying employees and managers who destroy teamwork and productivity is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to Stop Terminally Resistant Bullies at Work

 Most of you spent 95% of your people-problem time working with 5% of your employees - the “Terminally Resistant” bullies who will not meet the standards no matter what you do to help them.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
How to Stop Terminally Resistant Bullies at Work
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1999/02/15/smallb5.html

We’re not talking about employees who will respond to encouragement and exhortation, rewards and consequences, or people who are difficult to supervise but who will make progress when you’re clear, not-personal and specify measurable steps and timelines in your feedback.  We’re not even talking about boundary pushers who waste your time and energy keeping your guard up but who may eventually perform.

We are talking about the people who will fight to the death to have control of making and interpreting the rules.  They won’t accept any other authority in their little ponds; they demand unconditional support and subservience from everyone.

You recognize them – these bullies have black belts in resistance and will block every move you make.

• They’re the righteous guardians of how things “should” be and you’re “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
• When you don’t do it their way, no matter how small your mistake, they feel justified in retaliating, harassing or bullying you in any way they want because, “You deserve it and it serves you right.”
• They insist that their difficulties are always acceptable excuses for their lack of performance.
• It’s your fault because you hurt their feelings (your feelings don’t count).  Therefore, you have all the responsibility to apologize and make things acceptable to them - according to their rules.
  You have to make it perfect for them before you can hold them accountable – and you can never be perfect enough.
• They are never satisfied.  They expect every favor even if they didn’t do the work to make them deserving.

These narcissistic, abusive bullies will not change in your work-lifetime.
Like infected splinters, the only way to deal with these terminally resistant bullies is to remove them.  Follow the law and company codes – demand professional behavior, professional communication and high standards of performance.

Unfortunately you may not have the authority to remove a terminally resistant employee.  You may have one for a coworker or supervisor or you may work for an organization which has a culture that puts compassion for the bully before compassion for all those who must deal with him/her or before the necessary performance standards.

If your company harbors a Human Resources Department that always blames managers, never employees, for employee dissatisfaction, you may have to get HR to supervise the resistant employee.

It’s a matter of conscience about trying to off-load the resistant employee to another unsuspecting supervisor (which is often how you got that person to begin with) or to a supervisor who loves these challenges.

If you have no authority, common strategies are to protect yourself, wait it out, look for a “smoking gun”, risk bringing it up with higher authorities or transfer within the company.

If no higher authority cares or the company rewards whistle blowers with ostracism or firing, find another company.  Why leave yourself exposed to a source of infection that will ultimately poison your environment and your life?

The best way to stop terminally resistant, controlling, bullying employees and managers who destroy teamwork and productivity is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Stop Bullying and other Surefire Methods for Undermining Teamwork

Some managers, even experienced ones, have mastered methods that destroy teamwork.  They may think they’re doing what they’re supposed to or what worked to get them promoted, so they’re surprised when the effects are disastrous.

Are you practicing these techniques?

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Stop Bullying and other Surefire Methods for Undermining Teamwork http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1999/04/19/smallb5.html

Bullying and other Surefire Methods for Undermining Teamwork,

1. Be concerned most with your power and prestige.  Take credit for all successes, regularly sabotage or throw your people to the wolves.  Insist on flattery, play favorites and replace the “Golden Boy/Girl” often.
2. Practice bullying.  Expect failure, be demanding, disappointed, defensive and difficult, take everything personally, make personal attacks, throw tantrums, never apologize or do so only with cheap treats.
3. Create chaos.  Be moody, changeable, indecisive, unfair, make decisions for no apparent reason, give contradictory orders, change priorities often but don’t tell anyone.  Withhold approval, scatter employees’ efforts, assign tasks that emphasize their dislikes and weaknesses.
4. Keep employees in the dark.  Have everything go through you, expect people to read your mind, tell each worker a different story, don’t define appropriate responsibility, authority and accountability procedures, assign responsibility without authority or resources.
5. Create suspicion, distrust and fear.  Encourage employees to disparage each other and their superiors, broadcast their comments, run them down behind their backs, complain about them to your superiors, reveal confidential material, stimulate gossip, make some up yourself, focus on personal attacks not problem-solving.  Be negative.  Reward passive-aggressive behavior.
6. Lower standards.  Assume all employees are incompetent, micromanage, pay attention only to unimportant details, reward non-productive employees first, overload your most productive people.
7. Waste employees’ time.  Tell rambling personal stories just before deadlines, harangue about religion and politics, invent busy work, emphasize cover-your-butt activities.
8. Be cold, indifferent and ignore feelings.  Demand “professionalism” but never say, “Please” or “Thank you.”
9. Be unavailable.  Don’t listen to suggestions or complaints.  Use meeting time for personal calls or grooming.
10. Be a martyr.  Never delegate, do everything yourself, blame employees for not volunteering or appreciating you.
11. Don’t praise.  Always find fault with something, focus on what’s undone or not perfect, thwart efforts to do a good job, ridicule training, block advancement.
12. Put stockholders before customers or employees.  Be greedy, loot company assets.

You’re being successful when morale and productivity plummet, and stress, anger, fights, pilfering, absenteeism, personal and sick leave and turnover increase. Enjoy!

The best way to stop controlling, bullying employees and managers who destroy teamwork and productivity is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.

Design and implement an anti-bullying plan that eliminates the high cost of low attitudes in your workplace.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to Stop Harassment, Abuse and Bullying in the Workplace: Winning Work-Wars

Sometimes, you make or find yourself in a war at work.

When it’s against a competitor it’s usually easy to see what you need to do - gather your forces, and fight to win.

But when it’s against someone in your organization, many people don’t recognize that it’s a battle to the death and they don’t rally themselves appropriately.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
How to Stop Harassment, Abuse and Bullying in the Workplace: Winning Work-Wars
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1999/12/13/smallb5.html

Internal work-wars are waged in many situations:

• Someone hates you even though you didn’t do anything to them; someone wants turf or power over you.
• Supervisors, teams or coworkers persecute a designated scapegoat.
• Two people competing for only one position; someone intending to claw their way to the top over your corpse.
• Partners separating; hostile transfers or takeovers; supervisors or companies wanting power or rid of you.
• Family businesses destroyed by family feuds.

You know it’s war when you’ve tried every win/win approach you can think of but the other person thinks it’s still your fault and the only option you’re offered is unconditional surrender.

Of course, battles to stop bullies are not confined to the workplace.  The same types of wars happen between couples, between siblings or in extended families, or among friends or neighbors.

Some clues that you’re fighting for your life:

• Negativity, harassment and bullying are directed at you; rumors and lies are spread behind your back.
• Promises are made but later denied; important memos or files disappear.
• A new employee or supervisor criticizes you no matter what you do; the other person is willing to destroy everything just to avoid giving you anything (as in the movie, “The War of the Roses”).
• You have to do all the appeasing or changing because the others are so stubborn and difficult that no one expects them to give anything.

Your choices.

• Wish it would go away; continue to plead for a win/win solution; moan and complain endlessly (after all, it really is not fair); obsess on why it’s happening to you or on the injustices of capitalism.
• Throw fits, threaten violence.
• Run away.
• Fight a tactical and successful war.

Usually, the only productive pathways are leaving under the best terms you can or fighting to win.

Rules for fighting and winning these work-wars (see the original article for details):

1. Get it.  The sooner you recognize your situation, the sooner you can mobilize yourself effectively.  The longer you live in illusions driven by hopes, fears and unrealistic beliefs – if you’re nice enough people will like you and be fair to you and help you - the more mistakes you’ll make, the more you’ll give away, the weaker you’ll make your position.
2. If you lose your head, you’ll lose your head.  If you throw fits, threaten violence or start reacting without an effective plan, you’ll sabotage yourself.
3. Victory often goes to the most determined and disciplined.
4. Get the best armor and weapons.
5. Know thy enemy.
6. Divide and conquer.
7. Finish the war – no truces.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement an anti-bullying plan that fits the situation at work.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Be an Electromagnetic Leader: Repel Bullies and Slackers, Attract Great Performers

I use the image of an electromagnet to describe the best leaders in the workplace.  What are the properties of an electromagnet?

1. The more energy we put into it, the stronger the magnetic field to align al the other electromagnets.
2. Like all magnets, some other electromagnets will be repelled – people with low attitudes (bullies, whiners, narcissists) and/or poor productivity (slackers).
3. Like all magnets, some other electromagnets will be attracted – great people (go-getters with high energy, wonderful attitudes and high productivity).

Now, what does that mean and how to put it into effect?

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Be an Electromagnetic Leader: Repel Bullies and Slackers, Attract Great Performers http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/01/17/smallb5.html

“Electromagnetic Leadership” rallies, aligns and focuses your own energy and the efforts of all the people around you

Why “Electromagnetic?”  We’re all like electromagnets, creating our own directions and responding to the magnetic fields of those around us.  The more electricity we put into an electromagnet, the stronger the magnetic field.  The stronger the magnetic field, the stronger the force that attracts and aligns, or repels (where appropriate).

Can you be that powerful?  Yes.  It’s a combination of your passion, dedication and drive; your insistence that everything, from top to bottom, be done up to your standards; the power of your vision, mission and commitment.

You don’t have to be loud, arrogant or pushy in order to have a powerful effect.  You do have to be determined, persevering, resilient and flexible.

Your culture – your standards, methods and systems – is a result of your energy; of what behavior you require.
The more powerful the electromagnetic field you create, the more the other leaders, managers and employees must become enthusiastically aligned and unswervingly committed, or else leave.

That means you must enforce and reinforce your standards of productivity and professional behavior.  Stop harassment, abuse and bullying at work.  Stop negativity, entitlements and backstabbing at work.  Success comes before personal agendas.  Require teamwork and productivity in the service of the customer and profits.

Rules and procedures are important but they’re secondary to tasks done correctly and successfully.

Systems, processes and pious phrases don’t make companies great; they’re just words on paper or wall-plaques.  They have no life or power on their own.  Even the best “Way” is neither self-perpetuating nor self-replicating.

The success of your “Way” is created by the energy of individual leaders, at all levels, who reinforce your magnetic field through organization, tools and effort.  Their determination is required to stop negativity, harassment and bullying.  Their determination is necessary to promote productivity.

If you lose these individual organizing centers or they become disoriented, your enterprise will lose alignment and soon fall apart.

Finding your "magnetic north" is only the first step.  The second step is being an electromagnetic leader.  The more your juice, the greater will be the resulting magnetism.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement an anti-bullying plan that fits the situation at work.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Create a workplace with no harassment, abuse or bullying

Sometimes, we have trouble deciding what strategy to use to increase our chances of a culture with no harassment, abuse or bullying so great people want to work, produce and get ahead - a culture of high attitudes and outstanding productivity. We know we can’t stand pat but still we hesitate.  We don’t want to waste our time or take foolish risks and, in the real world, there’s no way of getting all our ducks in a row.  Learning by trial and error sounds too brainless and fraught with danger.

There is another alternative – “The Systematic Method of Successive Approximations”.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Create a workplace with no harassment, abuse or bullying http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/04/17/smallb4.html

Sounds formidable and daunting, but it’s not.  You may not have used the method yet to stop bullying at work, but you’ve already used and mastered it while learning the most difficult things you’ll ever learn - walking, running, talking, driving and even driving while listening to a motivational tape and eating and talking on your phone and obsessing on something life-threatening or totally useless, all at the same time while getting to your destination safely.

There is no “One-Right” action plan, but we all used the same basic 12-step strategy to learn to walk.  It will also work to stop bullying at work.

1. You knew what you wanted and needed.
2. Action counted.
3. There was no guarantee of success and you never even asked about one.
4. Pain didn’t stop you for long.
5. Fear didn’t stop you for long.
6. Ignorance didn’t stop you for long.
7. Embarrassment didn’t stop you; the opinions of negative, critical bullies didn’t stop you.
8. You imitated successful people and you “faked it” – you became an experimenter at work.
9. Questions or concerns about self-confidence, self-esteem and self-image didn’t matter.  You didn’t pay attention to self-doubt, self-bullying or negative internal voices.
10. You put yourself in favorable situations with your “antennae” out to increase your chances of success.  You ignored negativity, harassment and bullying.
11. Some people learned faster than others did but we all succeeded eventually.
12. The desired gains outweighed the necessary losses that always come with taking charge of your life.

Live life the way you learned how to walk.  It may seem difficult in your situation to bring all your desire, need, energy, focus, intelligence and experience to bear on making major changes but it’s the only way.  You’re not too young, too old, too dumb, too clumsy.  The world is not changing too rapidly.  Don’t listen to negativity and bullies.  Learn to walk or you’ll get stepped on.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement an anti-bullying plan that fits the situation at work.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

How to Stop Bullies at Work: Ten Tips to Recognize Them

“How can just one person create such deep wounds that it’s taken us five months to heal a workplace,” I was asked.  Many people have trouble admitting that someone can be the correct answer to, “How many negative, abusive, bullies does it take to destroy everyone’s productivity” or “How many rotten apples does it take to spoil a whole barrel” or “How many overlooked cancer cells does it take to start a fatal tumor?” To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: How to Stop Bullies at Work: Ten Tips to Recognize Them

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/05/15/smallb5.html

Notice that when you nod your head in recognition of the “bad apples” you’ve known, we’re both denying many people’s fundamental assumptions that everyone is good and reasonable underneath; we can rehabilitate everyone; we’re supposed to care enough to keep trying and not remove them from work until we’re absolutely, objectively certain that they’re relentless, permanent bullies and we should give up.

Instead, we’re accepting that bullying and bad attitudes will spread and destroy the whole workplace.

I’m talking about the few employees (and bosses) who haven’t learned by the time they’re adults and who won’t be rehabilitated in the time and effort your team or organization can afford at work.  The pain and harm caused by those “bad apples” is the price you pay for ignoring the early warning signs and giving them too much time and too many chances

Top ten early warning signs of bullying, “bad apples” are:

1. They’re utterly convinced that they’re absolutely right about anything they think is important; their opinions, attitudes, interpretations, excuses, justifications, agendas are right; they can do exactly what they want at work because they’re absolutely right; problems are never their fault.
2. They’re totally focused on themselves; clueless and uncaring about what most of us consider appropriate, professional behavior and how other people will feel in response to their bullying.
3. They leave bossy, demanding, abusive notes insisting that what they want gets done, with no consideration for the other person’s schedules or deadlines.  They think their notes are polite.
4. They’re also oblivious to how the other person reacted to what they said, what the other person wanted and why, what the other person thought of them. Or they're hypersensitive, over-reactive bullies.
5. They don’t acknowledge the pain they cause and they defend themselves and their favorites ferociously.
6. They’re perfectionists; always negative and complaining; seeing things in right-or-wrong; making “to-do” lists with over 300 items. They feel victimized and eagerly blame others or “the system” at work.
7. They obsessively track or blow up little things, lose sight of what’s important; ignore what everyone else is upset about.
8. To flatter themselves, they only get the part of a message they agree with. Or in order to feel righteously indignant, they hear only the part of a message that will infuriate them.
9. They kiss up to those above and step on those below them.
10. They’re skilled at harassing, abusing and isolating people at work, organizing cliques to make war on their enemies, or finding scapegoats to direct the attention away from them.

They’re the 10% of the people you waste 90% of your time on.  If you think you’re the only one having these problems with them, check around and you’ll find that almost everyone else at work is also.  They spread their bullying around.

The problem is chronic; they don’t get it, they don’t change.  You’ll know you were right to remove them when everyone starts breathing deeply, smiling and walking uprightly again.  Act swiftly to protect yourself and the rest of your workplace.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement an anti-bullying plan that fits the situation at work.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Conflict-Avoidant Managers Don't Know How to Stop Bullying

If you have a consistent pattern of avoiding evaluations, criticism, and potential conflict at work; if you hope that problems will solve themselves if left alone; if you think that the best way to motivate all employees is to give constant praise and more benefits; if you won’t say, clearly and honestly, “That’s not good enough,” then you can’t be an effective manager. You’ll create a hostile workplace; you’ll never stop bullies and bullying.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Conflict Avoidant Managers Don't Know How to Stop Bullying http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2000/08/14/smallb4.html

“Conflict avoidant” or “conflict phobic” managers get less peace and more trouble than they hope for.  When you give up authority, standards and accountability you only make space for harassment, bullying and abuse at work to grow larger.  Professional behavior and productivity decrease, decent employees act out, pathological harassment and bullies (never satisfied by appeasement) take over and the best employees bail.

Two examples:

1. A manager who hated confrontation and conflict supervised a team for 15 years with no performance evaluations for professional staff, all discussions done individually behind closed doors, no public disagreements allowed and all major decisions made by consensus.

The results were inevitable: crucial plans were rarely implemented; two door-slamming, senior staff took control because other employees were afraid to protest; warring cliques formed; negativity, rumors, blame, abuse and scapegoating ran rampant; bullying escalated; turnover of both professional and support staff soared.

1. Another organization that prided itself on being caring and people-centered had not released an employee in 10 years. One employee, Rebecca, was brilliant and entertaining but was a mediocre performer who spent most of her time chatting with unproductive cronies. Her supervisor had never documented her poor performance and excessive socializing. In contrast, Grace had worked there only 6 months but had done a productive job that could have been well documented.

The supervisor preferred Grace and wanted Rebecca to leave. But, of course, Rebecca and her cronies used bullying tactics to stay and to force Grace to leave.  Why should a good producer work with managers and staff who accept dishonesty, slacking and mediocrity?

A consistent pattern of conflict avoidance is always backed by rationalizations, excuses and justifications.  Conflict avoidant managers are usually afraid of displeasing others. Actually, they’re afraid of the bullies while they ignore the pain and anger of the bullied targets.

Responsible adults don’t whine, “Why can’t we all just get along?”  They do something about it.  Leaders set the tone at work and make it happen.  If your prime directive is to get along and never confront anyone, stick to recreation sports and don’t go into business.

If you’re not sure how to evaluate; learn.  Learn to convert confrontation and conflict into discussion, and to apply the necessary accountability procedures routinely, fairly, firmly and matter-of-factly.

If you think it’s wrong to evaluate and be demanding or if you’re cowardly, then you’re not a manager.  You’ll never stop bullies or lead a high performance team, you’ll run your part of the organization into the ground and you’ll leave a really messy diaper for someone else to clean up.  You’re being disloyal to your company, your own career and the people who depend on you.

Stand up for high standards – set the tone and do the work.  Of course it’s hard - if it was easy, anyone could do it.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement an anti-bullying plan that fits the situation at work.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Managers - Evaluate Honestly and Consistently or Fail

Have you caught yourself or other managers whining about staff, “They should have gotten that done but they just goofed off.”  Or “I expected them do that without direction but when I checked, they got it all wrong.  And look at what we pay them.”  Or “I have to do everything myself; no one trained them and I can’t trust them.” Stop whining and start managing; the buck stops at your desk.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Managers – Evaluate Honestly and Consistently or Fail

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2001/02/12/smallb4.html

Whether you have inexperienced or experienced people, train and manage them so you’re thrilled with their work.  There are no excuses – it’s your job.  Learn to do it well or do something else.

The key to management is honest, consistent evaluation – and all the steps that go into effective and appropriate course correction.  If you don’t track consistently, you’ll spend much more time picking up the pieces.  Sporadic or dishonest tracking reinforces poor performance, fear, hostility, anger and lawsuits.

Some of the keys to successful managing are (see the original article for details):

1. Know each person.  Estimate how long you think each task will take.  Integrate, prioritize and agree on professional and personal goals, and standards of behavior and communication.
2. Clarify what the final product or service will look like.  Determine milestones and timelines, final goals and deadlines.  Don’t wait until the last minute.
3. Specify responsibility, authority, support (resources, personnel) and constraints.  Clarify what they can do their way and what must be done your way or the company way.  Clarify accountability.  Clarify rewards and consequences.
4. Determine what to do if there’s a question, problem or new information to be taken into account.
5. Now manage – oversee the project. Give accurate, honest feedback.  Keep records.
6. Remove poor performers, trouble-makers, bullies and people with low attitudes.

You can’t manage if you’re afraid, lazy, a control freak or too busy.  What you don’t evaluate, won’t matter – you’re telling them that it’s OK if they blow it off or do it poorly.

Stand up for the standards – set the tone and do the work.  Of course it’s hard - if it was easy, anyone could do it.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Promote Yourself by Promoting Your Leader

What do successful leaders look for when they hire or promote people to front line supervisor, manager or even other leadership positions?  The same guidelines you must follow if you’re the appointee and want to serve and manage your leader successfully. To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Promote Yourself by Promoting Your Leader

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2001/03/26/smallb4.html

Technical skills are just the beginning; what usually makes or breaks performance are the attitudes and actions that reinforce a good working relationship in the workplace.

If you’re the leader wanting to help yourself and your manager succeed, be clear about what you can give and what you want.  Review the list below together.

If you’re the new appointee, follow these guidelines to promote both yourself and the leader.  There’s a different set to follow if you’re out to stab the leader in the back. See the original article for details.

• Make the leader as efficient and effective as possible.  Adjust your style to what the leader needs to be comfortable.  Don’t try manipulation, harassment or bullying to make the leader conform to yours.
• No good decision can be made in a vacuum.  Find out the leader’s priorities for you - especially if they’re not articulated or clear.  Argue if necessary to iron them out, but then make them yours.
• Learn how the leader thinks.  Have ready what you’ll be asked for.  Learn the leader’s guiding principles, values, bottom lines and red flags - make them yours.
• Clarify appropriate measures for your team’s performance, track them and review the results with the leader.
• No Surprises.  Make sure the leader hears bad news from you in plenty of time to develop a backup plan.
• Trust is priceless - cultivate the deserved reputation for being above board.
• Cover the leader’s back.  No negativity, bad-mouthing or back-stabbing.
• Don’t make the boss do your dirty work; don’t even allow it.  Don’t nag and don’t say that you told them so.
• Think of the best interests of the whole company, not just your own turf.

Your job is not limited to your job description; it’s to succeed and make the leader look good.  When you hire your staff, make them buy in to the same list in support of you.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Deal with difficult, but necessary, people at work

Although all businesses need consistent policies and procedures in order to succeed, most organizations violate their own rules when faced with very difficult people who happen to be necessary for success. I call these people and situations “special cases.”

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Deal with difficult, but necessary, people at work http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2001/04/16/smallb5.html

Special cases are often:

• Creative geniuses - like scientists, artists or software developers - whose bullying, abusive behavior must be tolerated because only they can create the product that everyone else depends on.
• Relatives who company founders insist on keeping.
• A leader’s favorites or special “pets.”
• Individuals who dedicated their lives during the initial development of a company, but now their behavioral quirks, obsessive interference in all operations or lack of a specialized skill diminishes further contributions.

The value of these special cases to the leader, the company and the rest of the staff must outweigh the problems that result from the amount of energy it takes to deal with them, their high salaries, influence on leaders, insistence on doing things their way, jealousy created if they flaunt their special position or the decrease in productivity, morale and teamwork they can cause.

If they disrupt operations or refuse to be contained, then they must go.

In order for the company to run smoothly and effectively, accommodations must be made on both sides and some effective working agreements must be honored.  See the original article for details.

• There will be only a few special cases and they will be known and recognized.
• They will be a fairly constant factor.  Leaders should not vacillate between keeping them and wanting them terminated over specific situations.
• The company can afford the money, time and energy.
• Leadership will develop a plan to minimize their secondary effects.  Managers and other staff must accept the arrangements or transfer.  Employees who deal with these difficult people may need “hazard duty” pay.
• Managers must be allowed to handle special cases. Leaders must push complaints from the special case back to the manager.
• Special cases must accept limitations on their unique treatment.

Employees who are so aggressive and litigious that management is afraid to apply the standards must not be allowed to stay.

Also, leaders must search for replacements while they’re tolerating these poor attitudes and behavior.  People will put up with great difficulties and inequities as long as there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Creating special cases means that not everyone is being treated identically.  But that’s the way of the world –- certain individuals get unique treatment.  That’s how we treat our own families, friends and those we depend on.  Sometimes it’s even necessary for our companies to thrive.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Don't listen to negative, "energy vampires" in the workplace

Leadership is an open-book exam. Both you and the President can get information and advice from many sources.  The benefits of asking are obvious.  But when facing a shrinking economy, cutthroat competition or terrorists, it’s crucial to know who not to ask or even listen to.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: Don’t listen to negative, “energy vampires” in the workplace http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2001/10/15/smallb5.html

Don’t listen to people who are:

• Scared, overwhelmed, discouraged or continually negative and critical; "energy vampires."
• Angry, hostile, manipulative and blaming narcissists; looking for someone to make their lives work the way they want.
• Exhausted or complacent lovers of comfort, convenience, ease and appeasement, too soft to fight.
• Sure that fairness and justice are the best ways to win or are more important than winning.  Disillusioned because their hope for friendly, win-win solutions has been challenged by a reality of cutthroat competition and win-lose fights to the death.
• Stuck in “analysis paralysis.”

Some keys to success in changing times - see original article for details:

• Talk to people who have the determination and energy to try to mold the future to your liking.  Listen to people who know what it takes to thrive in hard times and to defeat determined enemies.  Don’t listen to “energy vampires” who sap your will.
• Become low maintenance.  Whether you’re a manager or an employee, an official or a citizen, be a person who can pitch in and help out.
• Promote people who take charge and succeed - don’t keep employees who fall apart in a crisis.  In a world wallowing in recession and terrorism, your company and your country can’t afford to carry wimps, whiners and weaklings, panicked or immobilized by fear.  If you keep them, they’ll drag you under.
• Leaders stick together.  Tell people what you expect them to accomplish and how you expect them to act.  Talk longest and deepest with leaders at all levels in your organization.  Your job is to support hope, calmness and productivity under pressure.  You have a business to run.
• Take intelligent risks; don’t be too prudent.  Remember F.D.R. saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  Buy and build.
• Tell hero stories.  You’ll hear friends, family, children or coworkers upset because they just figured out that we can never really be safe or secure.  We don’t know what might happen.  Tell them about people with courage and skill in the face of danger.
• Success must be fought for and won; it won’t be given.  The British didn’t leave America in 1776 because they were politely asked to.  Hitler didn’t stop because he was appeased.

Hard times and war are great opportunities to be great.  Prepare yourself to be brave and skillful.  Losing is a much worse example for our children than is war and victory.

You might even read, “Masters of Change,” by William Boast and Benjamin Martin.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

'Caretaker Mentality' Thwarts Success in Workplace

A leader’s primary job is to do whatever is worth your life’s effort in a way that succeeds and is consistent with your core values.  You must judge your priorities and strategies by that criterion; do they promote or interfere with winning. If you think that there are more important things than winning, so that, for example, you’re willing to give up 10% of your company’s market share to be nice, please tell me so I can invest somewhere else.

One of the most insidious threats to success in the workplace is the “caretaker mentality” that comes in many forms.

To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see: ‘Caretaker Mentality’ Thwarts Success in Workplace

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2002/01/14/smallb7.html

If you confuse core values with attitudes, preferences and strategies that ignore realities or that interfere with winning, you’re setting yourself up for losing or becoming a martyr.

However much you might value openness and honesty with those you love, you can’t tell your competition your plans and proprietary secrets.  That’s a childish understanding of honesty and a strategy that guarantees failure.  Beware of people who say that’s the way the world should be.

Some examples:

• Not pursuing accounts receivable because it might be embarrassing for customers.
• Not requiring a team member to do something they don’t like.  Not giving honest feedback to people who say they can’t perform their tasks because of personal problems.  Not holding someone accountable for deadlines if they can’t handle the stress.
• People at a child care center accepting poor service from janitors or plumbers because they’re trying their best and if you work with them, over time they might improve their performance.
• Letting vagrants block your front door because they have nowhere else to go.
• Health care providers not wanting to keep accurate records or submit timely bills because caring counts more than money.
• Keeping someone incompetent at a particular job if they’re well meaning or their feelings would be hurt by being transferred or released.

Those may sound farfetched, but they’re real examples I’ve seen in abundance in companies and especially in non-profits, public service organizations and government agencies.

The “caretaker mentality” shows a deep and pervasive confusion about the organization’s mission and priorities. See the original article for details.

• It assumes that you can take care of everyone’s needs and wishes without interfering with anyone else’s.
• It assumes that it’s okay to accept mediocre performance or that the only or best way of encouraging better performance is to lower standards.
• It allows the angriest, nastiest, most vicious or most ignorant person to harass, bully and abuse other people while you try to understand and educate the bully.  It turns targets into victims.
• It assumes that making people feel good, even if you have to lie to them or give dishonest evaluations, is more important than challenging them with high standards and the need for results.
• It puts a great burden on the rest of the team to deliver on promises.
• While it pretends to care about everyone, it actually cares only about the people it designates as “victims” and allows them to victimize everyone else.

You don’t have to be nasty, ruthless or cheat, but you do have to be realistic and to choose.  Either you focus on your best shot at accomplishing the mission you hold dear enough to spend your time and energy, and to risk your fortune, or you give up that purpose to satisfy some other value.

Your primary responsibility is to make your organization a success in providing service to your customers at a profit, so you can continue to provide salaries to your employees.  There are many ways you can take care of your community without undermining that responsibility.

Of course, the caretaker mentality in relationships, at school and in your extended family can also ruin your life

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

No Whining Complainers: No More Victim Talk

Yes, life can be unfair and painful. But deciding what’s worth time doing something about and how to deal with it, is what can make your future great or miserable. If there’s a fly in your soup or the wrong entrée was brought, don’t just grin and bear it.  Get what you ordered, well prepared.  But you don’t have to whine or be an obnoxious jerk about it.

To read the rest of this article from the Cincinnati Business Courier, see: No Whining Complainers: No More Victim Talk http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2003/01/20/smallb5.html

Whining complainers come in typical forms and for obvious reasons.  See the original article for details.

• Whining complainers try to get sympathy and free goodies, to be the center of attention, to protect themselves from consequences and to control other people.
• “Professional victims” can find a cloud behind every silver lining.  Their lack of success is never their fault: it’s their genes, upbringing, bad luck, lack of support, previous poor decisions they can’t overcome, or powerful forces from outer space.  They can get power by this form of bullying.
• After “Energy vampires” leave, you feel like you’ve been drained of a quart of energy.  It’s hard to get back to work.
• “Dumpers” hurl so many problems on you that you need a shower.  And it’s then easy for you to waste even more time, sharing the garbage with someone else.
• “Blamers” specialize in righteous indignation, anger, temper tantrums and explosive silences.
• “Self-flagellators” proudly exhibit their badges of guilt and shame. When you realize the exhibition doesn’t help them do better, you wonder whose benefit the virtuoso performance was for.
• “Professional critics” are never satisfied.  But they’ve lost their sense of proportion.  They don’t distinguish between inconvenience, annoyance, irritation and serious problems.   They overreact, have no sense of which battles to fight or of political give-and-take and they never let anything rest; even problems can’t be solved.

Whining complainers live in a state of perpetual childhood, full of narcissism, greed and lust for power, isolated and avoiding responsibility for their problems and their futures.  And they take that out by harassing coworkers.

Moods are catching. If you wallow in feeling sorry for yourself or if you’re habitually overwhelmed, panicked, discouraged or angry, everybody and everything suffers.

Whining complainers decrease morale, divide loyalties, increase sick leave and turn over, and destroy productivity.  If you let them stay in your workplace they will sap its life‘s blood.  Stand up for great attitudes and replace whining complainers with people whose passion for life and work pour out of them.

A culture of whining complainers becomes a litigious culture, in which people take no responsibility for what they do.

I’ve focused on whining complainers and critics in the workplace, but, of course, the same could be said about them in personal life – whether it’s your spouse, kids, family or friends.

You can focus on what’s wonderful and what gives your life meaning, value, richness and joy, or you can whine and complain.

After a recent presentation, one person said that he had changed his life: in order to have the future he wants, he just doesn’t have time to sulk, complain or look for sympathy.  His first job is to practice keeping his spirit up while solving important problems.  He also doesn’t have a lot of time to listen to losers.  He chooses to be around winners who take things in stride.

It’s your life. You have the same choice.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Surefire ways lose your most valued customers

Master these methods and you’re guaranteed to lose your best customers.  Since hiding exceptions to guarantees is a great way to lose customers, I’d better reveal my exceptions. To read the rest of this article from the New Mexico Business Weekly, see: Surefire ways to lose your most valued customers http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/11/04/smallb3.html

No matter how hard they try, some organizations can’t or don’t lose their customers.

• Some federal and state agencies, and some local utilities realize that they’re only game in town.  If you get good service it’s either luck or some individuals who really care – but good service is not critical for them to keep their customers.
• Some customers won’t leave because they’re masochists, have very low expectations or feel helpless.

Seven techniques for losing your best customers. See the original article for details.

1. Burn out your best employees; promote your worst.  Pay minimum wage for receptionists and telephone operators who are curt, defensive and passive-aggressive.
2. Make buying very difficult.  Make perspective customers wade through five-to-ten steps of an answering system with no way to get to a live person.  Design a web site that takes forever to download and make purchasing require a complicated series of entries.
3. Over charge and under deliver.  Apologize profusely for a mistake, promise it will never happen again and then do nothing to correct the problem.
4. Become very important.  Start coasting.  Ignore your oldest and best customers – the easy sales.  Show up late for appointments.  Talk too much.  Don’t bother about product knowledge.
5. Be creative about not following through. Don’t return phone calls or wait a very long time before returning them and then forget the customer’s name.  Rely on company policy to avoid product returns.
6. Use offensive language when talking to customers.
7. Insult your competitor's products.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Surefire ways of inspiring the exodus of best employees

Want to downsize by driving away your best employees? If you have trouble believing that I’ve seen these techniques while consulting or coaching, you’re underestimating human creativity.

To read the rest of this article from the Washington Business Courier, see: Surefire ways of inspiring exodus of best employees http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2004/05/17/smallb6.html

Ten techniques I’ve seen used to get rid of the best employees.  See original article for details.

1. Keep goals, strategic plans, deadlines, policies and procedures unclear or secret. Don’t develop clear communication skills and processes.  Act as if employees are supposed to know what you mean, and if they don’t, it’s their problem.  Ignore employees’ grievances or penalize them severely for wasting your time.
2. Set impossible standards and deadlines; be hypercritical. Demand perfection.  Break your own rules.  Take your moods out on them; throw fits, retaliate often, make attacks personal - curse, threaten and demean them.
3. Be the hub; change your mind often; give contradictory orders. Micro-manage and then be unavailable when your opinion is needed.  Foster rumors.  Criticize them loudly for not taking responsibility and for wasting your time with dumb questions.
4. Evaluate sporadically, especially after mistakes, or not at all. Don’t give specific feedback; just yell that they did it wrong and there’s going to be hell to pay.  Chastise in public.  Avoid dealing with issues and problems. Promote inefficiency and diffuse responsibility.
5. Deny responsibility; it’s never your fault. Promise anything, deny you ever said it (as if they just didn’t listen carefully or twisted your words), don’t put anything in writing
6. Play favorites. Whisper behind closed doors, reward non-productive employees who suck up to you in public, form intimate relationships with a few and let everyone know.  Ignore their privacy.  Go through their desks, eat their snacks, make loud remarks about your findings.
7. Treat everybody the same; give everyone the same rewards. Ignore extra effort and high productivity.
8. Don’t waste time and money on training. Get new software but don’t ask users to help customize or test it before installation.  Throw new employees into the fray without training or instructions.  Enjoy righteous indignation when they don’t meet your standards.  Complain that you have to do everything yourself if you want it done right.
9. Treat downsized employees poorly; blame the company’s problems on them. Nickel-and-dime them.  No personal calls or e-mail, ever!  Give yourself huge increases and perks.
10. In a budget crunch, give falsely poor evaluations in order to justify giving small raises. Separate evaluations from rewards so you can easily give great evaluations and tiny raises.

These techniques are only the tip of the iceberg.

Of course, you’ll have to master a different set of methods to keep your best employees and replace only the worst.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.

Don’t Tolerate "Stars" Who Bully at Work

Nobody likes a bully.  But imagine that your best salesman is a bully.  You’re faced with a dilemma that may make you hesitate.  Heroism and skill will be required to maintain standards. To read the rest of this article from the Cincinnati Business Courier, see: Don’t Tolerate “Stars” Who Bully at Work http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2003/04/07/smallb3.html

Even if the bullying is flagrant and public, you might think twice before risking a major revenue stream confronting that person.

Even worse, if bullying is more subtle and private – like a bully “sales star “ cuts others out of their share of a sale; undermines other sales people; verbally intimidates and abuses support staff - you may be tempted to hesitate and ignore the initial rumors.

A prevalent assumption in our society is that the first time you hear about a problem, you should minimize it, give people the benefit of the doubt and hope it goes away by itself.  That assumption is wrong.

See the original article for details.

• Don’t let an untreated splinter lead to gangrene or a bullying problem fester. For every incident you hear about, there are usually five that haven’t reached you.  This is just the first time the bully was exposed.
• Respond to such incidents immediately. Look for patterns of behavior, try to find witnesses to the incident or people who have been bullied separately.
• Bullying patterns of behavior test everyone’s courage and skill, especially the leadership team. Set the standards by biting the bullet rapidly with bullying sales stars.
• Usually, the abuse builds to a crescendo, but then subsides temporarily - so you give it more time. Eventually, you’ll spend so much time focusing on repeated incidents, you’ll be exhausted. That is a tip-off:  The “cancer” has spread too far.
• After you act, you’ll be amazed at what surfaces. You’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.  Over the next two to three months, you’ll hear many more stories of bullying and hear many sighs of relief.”
• Even though the leadership team is insulated from the worst of the pain, you have to lead the way in demanding civil behavior as well as productivity. You’re just following common sense.
• Test sales managers. It’s easy to talk theories, but decisions can get more difficult for a sales manager when facing a bullying star might mean unmet quotas, lost personal bonuses and more time and money training replacements. The longer managers cover things up or let situations go unresolved, the more credibility and influence they lose.  They look like enablers or collaborators. Eventually they will have to leave - along with the bully they’ve coddled and protected.
• Test the support staff manager and the “abused” individual. Courage is required to blow the whistle, since leaders usually favor sales stars.  Don’t throw fits; gather facts and document evidence of patterns.

You can’t precisely measure the negative effects of bullying on everyone’s productivity, but every time you remove one of those thorns, the benefits will be dramatic.

Even if sales take a temporary hit, morale and productivity will increase across the board. Company revenues will shortly overcome the loss of that particular bully’s sales.

Often, individuals need coaching and organizations need consulting to help them design and implement a plan that fits the situation.  To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.