When does a Demanding Boss become a Bully?

DR resignation does raise the question, When does an Demanding or Overbearing Boss become a Bully?

From the Red and Blue camps we have as usual differing views on this issue.

I guess I grew up in an era when there were often senior staff you were wary of, and they had a reputation for being stern and demanding. Were they bullies, maybe, maybe not.

It was something that I guess was accepted and tolerated, and you leant to stay out of the way of the uncompromising.

Now don’t get me wrong in my experience they are few and far between and most senior staff are reasonably understanding, but even the best can at times come under pressure and you could feel their wrath.

So would work tyrants be sacked or asked to resign, not really and definitely not if they were good at getting results and their superiors felt they did an overall good job.

Would these relics of my youth be tolerated or excepted today; I somehow doubt it.

I believe that as I gained experience, I recognised that to get the best out of people you need to understand their strengths and weaknesses and manage them accordingly.

Some staff required the arm around the shoulder, while others sometimes needed a rollicking.

No hard and fast rules though, but I would like to think that if you gain respect of your employees they are more likely to understand when times are tough, and you may not be as sympathetic as you perhaps should be. We all have our bad days.

You will note from my words, that I have tried to not use the term ‘Bully’ mainly because that describes someone in my mind that is a nasty bit of work. Let’s be clear my generation knows what a Bully is, and you stand up to them straight away. If you don’t you are in big trouble.

It would appear that the current generation are rather softer and have grown up in an era where they are talked to nicely, rather than told what is required. Perhaps you should read my other blogs on good parenting, but I digress.

Now please don’t think I am condoning DR limited unacceptable behaviour, (please read the full report before judging), but he does have a point when out of all the complaints there were two or three at most that were upheld.

Does this indicate that today’s generation are not quite as tough as us old un’s, I’m not sure.

I just think that perhaps our standards and opinions have changed over the years, and our threshold for tolerance has changed.

As usual I believe we should be tolerant and understanding, but that is a two-way street and what is someone’s hard work ethic, is another potentially some person’s bullying.

But please be careful when using the term ‘Bully’ it’s not someone that occasionally tells you off for doing something wrong, a bully is a nasty bit of work and if you don’t know the difference then perhaps you should look for another job and employer.