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Is Your Boss Intimidating At Work Or Are You An Intimidating Boss? Be Career Wise
If you are an intimidating boss at the office, OlyLife encourages you to be career wise and to lighten up. There are some folks who get an ego boost by being an executive bully and using their position status to frighten or otherwise make others feel small. This attitude might work in the short term and unfortunately for underlings it sometimes goes on for a longer period, but most often, this type of leader will not rise to the pinnacle of their career potential. The reason is that true leaders do not have to intimidate others to get results. Instead, they motivate others to action through clear communication of an enthusiastic vision for where the team is heading. Employees want to do a good job for a boss who is kind, caring and positive while being focused on the mission. They may work hard for an intimidating boss – an office bully - but they will not respect him and in the end they will not go above and beyond or work creatively toward solutions, especially when the boss is in a jam.
What Do I Do If I Work For An Intimidating Boss?
If your boss is intimidating you must identify what the intimidating factor is. For example, if you find your boss’s amazing intellect to be intimidating, that is a very different matter, than if you work for a boss who intimidates through verbal smack downs or other bullying tactics. For bosses who have admirable qualities that you find intimidating, the best way to handle them is to acknowledge their expertise and to do your best to learn from their excellent leadership, marketing, or other skills. In this case, your acceptance that you have a lot to learn and your mission to emulate the desirable attributes can give you a mission that will help you forget the intimidation as you focus more on figuring out how to acquire similar skill sets. If, however, you have the unfortunate situation of working for the company bully whose ego gets stroked by putting others down, you can employ some of the following techniques.
Handling An Intimidating Boss Who Is A Bully
- Remember Your Boss Is Human And He Or She Puts The Pants or Skirt On Just Like You
- OlyLife Suggests You Remember That The Boss Is Failing On The Basics – The Golden Rule
- Choose To Stop Being Bullied – Work Hard Toward Proper Results
- Report Your Feelings To Your Boss – Let Them Know You Don’t Feel Like You Are Being Treated With Respect (A smart boss will knock it off when they realize it might reflect poorly on them if word gets out.)
- If Behavior Continues After You Tell Your Boss – Let HR and Your Boss’s Boss Know That You Work For A Bully
- If The Organizational Culture Is Very Tough And Bullying Is Found To Be Acceptable – Find A More People Friendly Team At A Different Company
Some Companies Still Have The Intimidating Boss Culture
OlyLife has seen first-hand some company cultures where mean spirited operation reviews take place and folks are intimidated when it is time to present the numbers to the head executives. These old time cultures are fading fast, but sometimes the vestiges still linger in a some departments within corporate america. Real leadership is inspirational not dictatorial. You can be an agent of change by becoming a boss who shows real leadership in motivating, encouraging, and helping others to achieve greatness. When you do this, you will be successful and closer to making the most of your one and only life – That’s OlyLife!
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Please Comment – We Would Love To Hear From You!
Thank you so much. Your tips were extremely helpful!! I did in fact go to the Branch Manger. She defended the offender’s behavior. I then went to the Director of the Agency and made a call to HR. The entire agency is extremely unfriendly. I was surprised you used the term mean spirited. It was exactly the term I used to desccribe my Team Leader. Thanks again…I now can go in this Monday and stand a little taller.
[...] we all know, millions of people who are suffering around the world. In addition there are those intimidated by a boss who is a tyrant or neighbors who are in hard times. Do you help the weak who are struggling? [...]