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Bully Types & Tactics
Note: The following material is excerpted from The Bully At Work, © 2003 by Gary and Ruth Namie. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use prohibited without authors' permission.
Bullies can be categorized, as is done in this section. But individuals who choose to bully can adopt any tactic at any time to accomplish their goal. They are not restricted to neat categories. They become one or more of the types as needed.
A short list of illustrative tactics accompanies each type of bully. The list is not meant to be exhaustive. You can probably think of many more tricks each type plays. And we'll give you the chance to submit some of the most memorable acts of cruelty you've observed at the end of our list.
Note: Not all bullies are women (tho' approx. 58% are). Women bullies don't always choose a woman target (tho' 71% do). So the references below use feminine pronouns.
Illustrations by Mark Hughes, © 1998 Gary Namie.
Screaming Mimi
Stereotypical bully. Controls through fear & intimidation. Emotionally out of control. Impulsive. Explosive. Threat of physical violence becomes issue. Wants to instill sense of dread. Overbearing. Self-centered, insensitive to needs of others. Very worried about being detected as imposter. Bombast masks incompetence.
yells, screams, curses
barks out loud often that "I AM YOUR BOSS" "FOLLOW MY COMMANDS"
poisons workplace with angry outbursts, tantrums
intimidates through gestures: finger pointing, slams things down, throws objects
crowds the Target's personal space, moves close to threaten or to make the Target anxious, hovers over, sneaks up from behind to startle
constantly interrupts the Target during meetings and conversations
discounts and denies Target's thoughts or feelings
threats of job loss or change
traps Target by insisting that complaints go "up the chain of command," starting with her
Constant Critic
Extremely negative. Nitpicker. Perfectionist. Whiner. Complainer. Fault finder. Lies.
Masks personal insecurity with public bravado. Loved by senior management because of her ability to "get those people to produce." Plays Parent to your Child (as she sees it). Aims to destroy confidence, encourages self-doubt.
uses put-downs, insults, belittling comments, name-calling
constant haranguing about Target's "incompetence"
makes aggressive eye contact, glaring at Target; demands eye contact when she speaks but deliberately avoids eye contact when Target speaks
negatively reacts to contribution of target [sighs, frowns, peering over top of eyeglasses to condescend, sour face (the "just sucked a lemon" look)]
accuses Target of wrongdoing, blamed for errors made up by bully (doctored documents, compromised databases, fake witness accounts)
makes unreasonable demands for work with impossible deadlines, applies disproportionate pressure, expects perfectionism
sends signals of disrespect through hyper-confident body language--sitting at desk with feet up, showing target bottom of shoes and talking to target through feet, bully grooms self (hair, nails) while ignoring the Target; making target sit while bully stands, hovering over, staying above
over-use of memos, e-mails, messages to bury Target in correspondence requiring replies
personally criticizes aspects of the Target's life that are irrelevant to work--appearance, family, friends
excessively or harshly criticizes Target's work or abilities
engages Target in intense cross-examination to belittle and confuse
Two-Headed Snake
Passive-Aggressive indirect, dishonest style of dealing with people and issues. Jekyll-Hyde. Pretends to be nice while sabotaging you. "Friendliness" serves only to decrease resistance to giving information she may later use against you. Smile hides naked aggression. Assassinates reputation with higher ups. Plays favorites.
ensures that the Target does not have the resources (time, supplies, help) to do work
demands that co-workers provide damning "evidence" against Target, uses lies or half-truths, threatens non-cooperators (the "divide and conquer" technique)
discriminates against smokers by requiring they gather trash from the parking lot while taking a smoke break
assigns meaningless or "dirty" tasks as punishment
makes nasty, rude, hostile remarks directly to Target while putting on a rational "face" for others
breaches confidentiality; shares private information about the Target with co-workers or other bosses
discriminates against non-smoking Target by permitting breaks only for smokers
creates a special personnel file kept in bully's car or locked in her office full of defamatory information to sabotage Target's career inside or outside the organization
steals credit for work done by the Target
Gatekeeper
Most transparent of the controllers. She needs to establish herself as "one up" on you, to order you around or to control your circumstances. To her, control of all resources (time, supplies, praise, approval, money, staffing, help) is the most important aspect of work. Approval must be solicited from her.
ignores the Target; giving the "silent treatment," and modeling isolating the Target
sets office clocks 15 minutes ahead of "real" time, then punishes Target for being "late" at start of day, while not allowing her to leave before quitting time according to "real" time
deliberately cuts the Target out of the communication loop--stops mail, e-mail, memo distribution, doesn't return calls
refuses to make "reasonable accommodation" for Target returning to work with a disability
refuses to follow internal policies and government-mandated employee protections for Target
denies privileges and rights to Targets who file complaints against the bully, either an internal complaint or a lawsuit or with the EEOC, DOL
makes up new rules on a whim, Target expected to follow, but bully is exempt
An alternative way to categorize bullies is by the tactics they adopt. Remember, according to the Institute's definition, the actions qualify as bullying only if they harm the health of the Target. Therefore, it's safe to say that all bullying is cruelty inflicted on Targets.
Cruelty comes in one or more of the following family of tactics alone or combined in a toxic brew:
deliberate actions to humiliate, intimidate, undermine or destroy the Target
OR
the withholding of resources (time, information, supplies, support, goals) necessary for the Target to succeed
In this way, all of the above tactics can be regrouped into two simple lists.
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