I've been in a workplace where a form of bullying took place and I'll admit that it got the best of me. I've never really talked about it openly and won't divulge the details of where I was working at the time but it really had an effect on me, spilling into my personal life. When I saw this podcast on Overcoming Workplace Bullying I realized that it's more prevalent than I thought.
I've been told that I should have risen above it all. When I work somewhere I put in my all.
When a coworker starts sabotaging my efforts I take that shit personally. I may not be the target (perhaps just the person on the receiving end) but it affects me just the same.
I've both confronted and avoided workplace bullies before. The biggest issue I had was that nothing was done about it from above. I realize there are bad managers out there. It just sucks when you have bad management in a workplace where bullying exists, as well.
I was physically bullied as a kid for absolutely no reason other than being different. I took it as a kid but I won't stand for it as an adult. It's true that you can't control others, only how you react to them.
However, when someone else's actions start to affect your performance that's when it becomes a problem.
In hindsight I could have had a come to Jesus conversation with my boss telling him that I was considering leaving because of the bullying I was experiencing but understand that he was aware it was happening and went the opposite route stroking the bully's ego instead. I was once told that you can't force a team to work well together.
I argue while we don't have to be best friends at work there has to be a level of mutual respect.
I won't ever allow myself to be put in such a position for as long as I was. Life is too short to deal with workplace stress like that, especially when you're a top performer and management turns a blind eye. Bye Felicia.