I recently read a blog post from a well-known, respected expert on the topic of workplace bullying, Kathleen Bartle. She has developed a new term for bullying behaviors in the workplace, especially in higher education: Strategic Abrasive Behavior. I am personally and professionally offended by her view, and what follows is the response I sent to her through LinkedIn. [It will make more sense if you read the post first; click on her name above.]
I have worked my entire career in higher education. I have witnessed (or have been the target of) the behaviors you describe. But I must respectfully disagree with the term you've assigned to them.
Bullying is strategic. Bullying is abrasive. Bullying is aggressive. Bullying is humiliating and soul-killing. Bullying is rooted in wielding power and control over another with the intent to harm and/or humiliate.
People who bully are extremely insecure, and when questioned or stood up to, they will strike out with a powerful vengeance with no regard for the other person. So when this "person in power" no longer has a target to abuse--because the recipient of the venomous, insidious behaviors has no choice but to leave the environment--The Powerful One will find another target. It's a dysfunctional strategy to claw their way to or keep themselves at the top because they subconsciously believe they don't have the skills, expertise and knowledge to do it on their own. They have to make others look and feel bad so they can look and feel good.
Bullying is always situational, whether it be in a school, on a college campus or in the workplace. But regardless of where these behaviors take place, it is never personal for the bully (they have an incapacity for empathy), but is always ABSOLUTELY personal for the target.
Let's call these behaviors exactly what they are: Bullying. To minimize or recategorize them with another fancy name is a slap in the face for everyone who's been on the receiving end. And targets have been slapped around enough.
QUESTION: What do you think of Kathleen's view?
(c) 2013 Robyn M. Posson. All Rights Reserved.
Hi Robyn, I so appreciate that you are reading my posts and are taking the issues of bullying everywhere seriously. I want to be clear about my model in general and about strategic bullying specifically. My model contains 5 types of bad behavior in the workplace ranging from abrasive behavior to classic bullying. Strategic behavior is but ONE of the types of behaviors. The models comes from my research findings based on studying 20 years of work by academics. What I did was uncover a model that helps create appropriate analyses and solutions.
ReplyDeleteHow does understanding strategic bullying help us? Well, it's tremendously reassuring for targets to understand that in the case of strategic aggression- It's NOT personal. This is huge. And, it helps me as a coach to determine what type of intervention is most helpful for the target, the aggressor and the organization.
So, please visit my website and review the entire model and see if the analysis helps you with your work. I hope so. Many have found it useful and empowering.
All the best,
Kathleen