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Re: Thanks, Coral and in line with your comments..

Posted by dj on March 2, 2001, at 10:31:47

In reply to Re: Please do, post that info..., posted by coral on March 2, 2001, at 8:40:07

"...Bullies are not always the psychopathological monsters they are popularly portrayed to be, Keashly said. Bullying can be a response to extreme stress and frustration or a lack of supervisory skills. "Many people move up in organizations, and they are never trained how to supervise. So you teach them how to be a better manager."

That's where Peterson comes in. He provides one-on-one coaching to problem managers.

"Mostly I get called in to work with high-potential people. You have a guy who's a tremendous asset to the company, but he's leaving a trail of human debris in his wake," Peterson said. "They're so successful with their talent that they never develop other aspects."

Many times, the bully is resistant to change because he's convinced his bullying behavior is responsible for his success, Peterson said. Often he or she has been "promoted over nice people time and time again. So the bully said, "I've been rewarded for this behavior.' There's not enough insight into the damage they're causing."

Peterson focuses on teaching better communication skills.

"What you have to do is teach them how to be clear, direct and powerful in a respectful way. One of the principles is to attack the issue and not the person."

He also uses role models, such as Jack Welch, the recently retired chairman of General Electric, who are tough and assertive, but respectful of employees.

"The irony is, most of the bullies I work with are good people. They've just learned a lousy way to manage. If you can show them a way to build loyalty and stronger teams that get results, why wouldn't they try it?"

http://www.jsonline.com/bym/career/aug00/wrk-bully-bi080800.asp?format=print

"...Even well-run organizations sometimes have a pocket or two with unusually high turnover, low productivity and miserable morale. Pay attention to those pockets. They may be headed by a heavy-handed bully boss. The trouble is that too many senior managers allow these bullies to stay, because they're bringing in the numbers in the short term.

Others, like the senior leadership team at General Electric, have decided they won't pay for poor management.

A few years ago, GE's CEO Jack Welch realized while his company espoused smart-people principles, not all his managers practiced what GE preached. So he identified four types of managers, and then took action. See if you recognize any of these in your organization.

Type I: Not only delivers on performance commitments, but believes in and furthers GE's people-oriented values. These are GE's future senior leaders.

Type II: Doesn't meet commitments, or share the company's values -- or last long at GE.

Type III: Believes in the values, but sometimes misses commitments. Because GE encourages taking swings, Type III's typically are given another chance.

Type IV is the tough one. GE's leaders admit it's tempting to look the other way with these mismanagers, because they deliver short-term results. But they do so by grinding people down, stifling them. According to the 1995 GE Annual Report: "Some of these learned to change; most couldn't. The decision to begin removing Type IVs was a watershed -- the ultimate test of our ability to `walk the talk.'

"But it had to be done if we wanted GE people to be open, to speak up, to share, and to act boldly outside traditional lines of authority and functional boxes in this new learning, sharing environment."

It's not just the damage these Type IVs do within their own departments. Greater destruction by far occurs elsewhere in the organization, when people see this type of behavior tolerated or even encouraged.

The glaring inconsistency involving even just a few will undermine and mitigate the valiant work of the majority. It's an all-or-nothing proposition. This is not a quest for the "moral high ground." It's just plain good business, and if you have any doubt, take a look at GE's financials.

If you're a senior manager or business owner, and you discover a couple of bully bosses in your organization, you owe it to them (and everyone else) to be very clear about your commitment to people-oriented management. If they choose not to sign on, invite them to find their success elsewhere. Do it professionally and humanely, but do it. "

This is from this article: http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/1999/07/26/smallb4.html however the part I've quoted above is mostly taken from one of the many books on Welch. As GE was one of the top performing and biggest co.'s in U.S. and the world. Worth referencing, though more difficult to apply to smaller orgs., particularly when the owner is the bully... : )

dj



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