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| Dr. Debra Stewart |
Why is it so hard to identify the covert bully in the workplace? Especially when there are employees who endure the behavior but become unresponsive and too inhibited to demonstrate helping behaviors or identify the perpetrator. In the presence of a bully, the behavior exhibited by the victim and the bystander goes beyond apathy to fear-based. According to Dr. Albrecht, there are five fears common to humans.
Fear Types:
(1) fear of extinction,
(2) fear of body mutilation or invasion,
(3) loss of autonomy,
(4) fear of separation, abandonment or rejection,
(5) ego-death or fear of humiliation, shame, or worthlessness.
Since bullying is a system problem, the diffusion of responsibility to report bully behavior becomes rationalized because of the fears embedded in the workplace culture. As an organization, how do you change workplace fear-based behavior to a tenacious cohesive environment that seeks and values a bully-free work environment? The answer is in evaluating the value and reward systems that foster the embedding of the five fear types into your organizational memories and stories.
Do you have a bully prevention specialist on your team?
