Bad office boss: work, office, colleagues -iODonna

THE bullies do not exist only in schools. Masquerading as visionary entrepreneurs and executives determined to achieve the most, they are also found in the adult world. They swagger around the workplacesupported by the belief that arrogance and roughness at certain career levels represent qualities to show off like insignia on uniforms.

The idea that harsh bosses achieve more is ingrained, but researchers who deal with organizations and productivity have found no evidence in favor of this thesis. The fact that Steve Jobs was insufferable is not the key to understanding Apple’s success, but inventiveness is, which is not necessarily proportional to bad character.

Extreme harshness harms professional relationships and health. I recently overheard a psychiatrist venturing into a theory that good scientists are surly by nature, which is why the universe of their co-workers would just have to adapt to their crass ways, on pain of a hard life. The episode, insignificant in itself, shows how there is still someone who, in a completely unscientific way, exchanges seriousness and experience with the severe and impolite exercise of power.

The damage of surly leaders

Leadership studies have blossomed in the last twenty years. Psychologists, sociologists, and business analysts have conducted all manner of investigations, and the vast majority of data collected lead to the same conclusion: bullies weaken teams, morale plummets, sick days increase, people quit.

Times are changing, fortunately, and there are fewer employees in Italy and in other industrialized countries willing to put up with incivility in the workplace. Especially to young people, certain old-fashioned hospital chiefs, certain university barons, certain magazine editors ready to scream, humiliate, overwhelm, seem ridiculous and not authoritative.

Chronicle cases

Dominic RaabDeputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister of the United Kingdom, was forced to leave on 22 April after the allegations of bullying of his collaborators in government activities. The complaints against him had already leaked in 2022, with criticism of the culture of fear that the politician had established in the departments and with formal complaints about offensive outings, confirmed by an internal investigation.

In Italy, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed the investigation into the case against the management of the gynecology department of the Santa Chiara hospital in Trento and confirmed the accusation of ill-treatment against 21 people. Among these Sara Pedri, the 31-year-old gynecologist who disappeared into thin air on March 4, 2021, is hypothesized for an extreme gesture after delivering a letter of resignation. The atmosphere in the ward would have been unhealthy, as she described it as a witness: insults, harassment, intimidation, denigrating attitudes.

The practice of kindness

In an ideal world, an ethical code based on kindness should be introduced everywhere, putting on paper that the value of a manager or an expert also passes through his moral depth and his ability to establish relationships with the team. Three courses devoted to the science of happiness at work have been established at the University of California, Berkeleywith lessons to teach leaders how to develop social intelligence and others devoted to methods to strengthen empathy and trust.

Rudeness is no longer permissible, and not only because it is unprofessional to be rude to colleagues or customers, but also because we know that rudeness harms physical and mental health, puts you in a bad mood, interferes with self-esteem.

The boss: stress number one

At NASA we talk about burnouts when a rocket runs out of fuel, but the World Health Organization has entered the great encyclopedia of diseases (International Classification of Diseases) to define the exhaustion that can happen to some workers, also due to the presence of toxic superiors.

In one of the largest international studies on burnout, the analysis and consultancy firm Gallup found that the main source of stress was “unfair treatment”, followed by unmanageable workloads, unclear communication from managers, lack of support and unreasonable times. These five causes have the leader in common.

“Have a bad one and you’re almost certain to hate your job,” reads the comments to Gallup’s 2022 report State of the Global Workplace. “A bad boss will ignore you, disrespect you, and never support you. Such environments can make anyone miserable.”

Companies, if they want the well-being of their employees and growing results, must choose kind managers who make others feel appreciated and esteemed. Then the workers will give their best: 95 percent of high achievers report being treated with respect at all times.

How to recognize the uncivilized

Incivility in the office has a very high cost. As a survey published on theHarvard Business Review and conducted on 800 participants, 80 percent of those who suffered it were unable to concentrate on work due to worry and discomfort, 48 percent intentionally reduced their commitment, 12 percent resigned .

Bullies in prominent positions enjoy prostrating others through a number of gestures: continually give life lessons, mock people by pointing out their flaws, never fail to remind subordinates what their role is, take credit for victories, tend to humiliate those who make a mistake, demand submission, walk away or fiddle on their cell phones during a conversation showing disinterest.

The cynicism of corporate tyrants

Sooner or later, however, petty tyrants tend to sabotage their success or at least their potential. As they rise through the ranks, they internalize the belief that they are natural leaders, endowed with instinctive faculties that authorize them to despicable actions. But can the good of a company really take precedence over the good of its employees? Can it be justified that a single individual, more or less gifted, certainly capricious, ruins the lives of his fellows?

Arthur Miller, In Death of a traveling salesman, recounts the terrible decline of a worker, Willy Loman, who has believed all his life in the American dream and who is fired without the slightest empathy. When he asks the boss to look at the values ​​of friendship and gratitude, the boss replies cynically that it shouldn’t be taken personally, that “business is business”. Loman would comment: «You cannot eat an orange and throw away the peel, man is not a piece of fruit». He’s right, work is not separated from dignity, no one has a license to kill.

Eliana Liotta she is a journalist, writer and science popularizer. On iodonna.it and on the main platforms (Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast) you can find her podcast series The good that I want.

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