Working with someone who is mean to us sometimes we don't know how we should behave. Some clench their teeth, hoping that our colleague's aggression is temporary and will finally cease. Others decide to exchange blows. What can you do if you are being mistreated at work? What if these negative behaviors, instead of losing momentum, begin to intensify? How do you know that we're dealing with a real company despot?
Michele Woodward, a managerial coach, says that aggressors' negative behaviors can vary in intensity, ranging from despotic assaults to sheer rudeness. Until attempts are made to alleviate the problem, it is difficult to clearly determine what place a person occupies on this scale. If this is a typical despot, you may have serious difficulties - if you get anything at all, says Gary Namie, founder of The Workplace Bully Institute and author of The Bully at Work.