Bully Leadership – How You Can Get Results, Gain Control, and Increase Profitability
Do you need to increase productivity?
Is it time to bring accountability and responsibility back into your workplace?
Are you losing money?
Then consider Bully Leadership as a fast track way to get your business, productivity and profitability back in line!
Join the masses of managers that have found that ruling by fear is easy and effective: Through barking out orders, blaming others; being disrespectful; recruiting henchmen, valuing only a select few; building divisiveness; threatening consequences; using harsh directions, and frequently imposing disciplinary procedures for non-compliance, you too can get results!
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Have I Made My Point
OK, you get my point. Bullies are not only on the playgrounds, they are in the workplace too. And they can suck the life-blood out of your organization. Yet, because of the need for immediate results, their style is reinforced by tradition, and continues on today in mass proportion. Just look around, whether it is in government, not for profits, or the private sector, more and more leaders are resorting to pulling out the iron fist (instead of the velvet glove).
I call Bully Leaders “Cowards in Suits”
Think about it, where do you think the word bully comes from? From the animal called “bull”. And what do bulls do? They charge when they see red. In other words, they get angry instantly, they have a low tolerance level, they snap when things don’t go their way. They charge ahead, they attack, and they leave a destructive path.
Look at just a few definitions of a Bully Leader.
– Coward
– Disrespectful
– Aggressive
– Controls
– Interferes
– Dominates
– Plagiarizes
– Random and impulsive
– Intentional causing pain
– Tyrant
– Command and Control
– Duplicitous
– Autocratic
– Dictator
– Inconsistent
What motivates a bully leader? There is no one answer, but experience and research has determined a shortlist.
One reason is because their approach delivers quick results. Bully leaders are into the quick fix. They want instant results and they are not willing to invest the time in their people. For bully leaders, fast results are more important that building a team. Bully leaders are impatient – they want change now!
Another reason is that Bully Leaders were promoted by other bullies. The “old boys club” is alive in well in the workplace today. You promote like thinkers. Bullies promote other bullies. It is just common sense. And one promoted, there is pressure on the new bully from the other managers to continue the abuse.
Finally, Bully Leaders were bullied themselves. They are victims of past injuries, and they now have an opportunity to unload their shame on their subordinates. There is a huge science behind victimization that I will not get into now. But suffice to say, some bully leaders have serious issues and they need help now.
Bully Leadership – an oxymoron
Then name Bully Leadership was deliberately crafted to combine contradictory terms. Bullying and Leading – Simply put, there is no place for bullying in leadership.
Look at the greatest definitions of leadership in the world today, and nowhere do you find any of the attributes of a bully.
The Costs are Staggering
Bully Leadership is alive and well in today’s workplace. 1 in 4 employees report being bullied in the workplace. Up to 70% of todays workforce is disengaged. Lack of leadership is the main reason. Bullying is the primary cause. Over 400 billion dollars a year are lost in productivity and profitability. Allowing Bully Leadership to flourish is a fast track way to sink your ship.
So, why do we allow it to occur? Why do we not have the courage to change our paradigm?
Remember…Leadership is about courage. It is about challenging the status quo. It is about inspiring the hearts and minds of your team. Leadership is not about being a coward.
How do you fight back? I have good news, there is a way. As my mentor Dr. Stephen R. Covey would say, there is a 3rd Alternative.
Stay tuned for next week when I show you how to fight back. I will show you the 3rd Alternative.
I call it bull fighting – but using the velvet glove approach (instead of the bully way – which would be with an iron fist)
