A couple of year ago, I was asked to direct a team in a long-term project that was struggling to get off the ground.  This was because of  personality conflicts which created unhealthy dynamics and threatened to shut the endeavor down before it started.   The problem was that there were two bullies (one who was not on my team and the other named Tom) who were angry that they weren't chosen as head contractors and their sole purpose became to overthrow the person who had.   Therefore there were many backdoor meetings and night time phone calls where the two solicited team members to write letters demanding that the Project Manager be fired. They dragged their feet on each step they were assigned and then blamed the Project Manager for not equipping them with what they needed.

The key to dealing with tough people and poor behavior is to establish communication ground rules that include job descriptions, goals, objectives, assignments, due dates, and tracking and measurement systems for accountability and clarity.  To pull the team on track, I develop some foundational tools to establish boundaries and assignments and attempted to present it to the team.

       Tom repeatedly yelled at team mates and refused to allow them to give input.  His disruptive behavior went unnoticed by the company liaison (Linda) who was observing the meeting.   Though the team understood the value of the tools, Linda spoke up and  said, "Let's listen to what Tom has to say!    The team had been listening to Tom for weeks while he yelled at them in meetings and made nightly calls to each member trying to rally them against the project manager.  That was why the project was at a stand still.

Without the support from the company liaison in reigning in Tom's poor behavior,  the team didn't stand a chance of succeeding and everybody would come out smelling like rotten eggs.  I was too new in my business to risk such a catastrophe so I resigned my position and that was followed by the leading contractor's resignation and about twenty other people.

A year later, a call came with a  request for me to come back on board.  "All of the 'funky' people are gone!' Linda said.  I agreed to go back.  It wasn't more than a week before it was evident that Tom was still there, yet many good people were gone.  Linda shared her frustration that several of the milestone goals had disastrous results and it was a public embarrassment.  She went on to say there were many ineffective people who were not skilled enough to pull off their roles. Then she boasted about Tom stating, "People can say what they want but Tom has been a superstar in this.  He is the only person who has stayed by me the whole way."

I thought about those people who had come on board after my initial resignation and ended up 'smelling like rotten eggs’ because they were blamed for the failure of the preliminary project and knew that, had I ignored my intuition and stayed on the first time, I would be one of them.  The truth was, they did have the skill sets to meet the goals successfully.  But Linda  chose to have one Superstar rather than have forty!  

Any time bullying behavior is tolerated, all production comes to a screeching halt because the goal becomes self-preservation rather than corporate and the focus becomes staying out of the bully's path.   Good workers are rendered inefficient and unmotivated while the bully thrives at the expense of everyone else - and the ultimate goal.   

I went back to manage one of the largest components of the project and I did set boundaries regarding Tom.  As with any large event, there is much chaos and on-your-feet thinking that must happen and there is no time for egos to kick in.  The project was a success and there was much public recognition as well as compliments from the company's proud CEO and Vice President.  Yet Tom, upon hearing the compliments, stated to the CEO, ‘Linda certainly didn’t have the confidence in her pulling it off yesterday!  Today was a pure miracle!’  Yet months of careful planning and work had paid off.

But that is what a bully does - pops the bubble for anyone who may have something good happen to them and blocks credit and recognition from the rightful people.  It is always one step forward, two steps back, simply because bullies are self-agenda oriented and will thwart the corporate goals in order to fill their own ego needs.    In this story, like most bullying cases, had Tom's behavior been managed or had he been dismissed early on, it would have freed up other team members to safely do their job!  Most would have stepped up to be superstars and there would have been better results with the preliminary goals.  When you have a bully on your team, you have a decision to make.  Do you want only one Superstar or a Superstar team?

          A recent online article, Don’t Put Up with Workplace Bullying, by Judy Lindenberger, addresses the issue and even dares to suggest the option of leaving. Yet ironically, it did not come without negative reaction and, perhaps, some subtle bullying by one – coincidentally both are men - Marc Brenman and Don Herrmann. The author, Lindenberger quotes some case studies and the critics are quick to twist the words as though they were her own statements. Adding insult to injury, commenter, Lisa Chase, shares her sympathy for those being bullied and poses some great questions:

          “My question is where are your managers and other employees, somebody sees bullying happen. Why don't they stand up and offer support and let the bully know that the behavior is unacceptable. Or have we all grown so sheep like that we close our eyes to abuse b/c we are afraid for ourselves.

If you work in an organization where bullying is more than just isolated incidents, is ignored by HR, managers, and leadership; you work in a toxic environment and your best option is to leave.” (No brainer!)    

 http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=120142&type=member&item=136204112&commentID=88944679&qid=7d9ed694-aa49-4a15-b651 a1a73d96af76&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-cmn&goback=%2Egmp_120142#commentID_88944679

Mark Brenman responded with, “Hi Lisa, unfortunately, "managers and other employees" who see the bullying are often the perpetrators of it.” (True!) “,  "As to this, "your best option is to leave, that's amateur advice; people often or usually can't just leave a job, especially in this economic environment.” > (Hmmm!)  [i]

So, what is the answer? Should a person quit a job because of bullying? 

          The short answer is, sometimes! With over twenty years experience as an employee on various levels – frontline to Administrative Director, I have both seen and been the brunt of bullying from time-to-time. Being in a 350 employee agency for fourteen years, at times I chose to stay and ignore it, other times to take a stand against it, and in my last six years there as Administrative Director, I abolished it by changing the culture through policy and procedure, and appraisal and review – and it worked! However, what a difference a decade makes both personally and professionally. I have since guided various businesses, organizations, and leaders through the very same process with successful results.

          But being in a different season and decade of life, bullying situations and responses at one stage are not acceptable in another stage of life. While seeing great change after getting into a director position after eight years in that agency, the real regret in hind-site is, during those first eight years, had my energy been invested in a workplace that already had the foundations of anti-bullying, my professional progress would have been much greater with much less chaos to sift through, obstacles to go around and hoops to jump through. That’s what bullying does: creates unnecessary chaos, obstacles, and hoops, and everybody comes out smelling like rotten eggs! The decision to leave is personal and one must consider the following:

1. Is there HR and management support/intervention?
2. Is resolution in sight?
3. Does the financial compensation outweigh that anguish and stress?
4. What is your ability to generate income until a new job is found? (Skill set – such as teaching a night class, refinishing or making and selling something? You get the picture!)
5. What are the immediate and long-term consequences of leaving
6. What is the potential peripheral fallout?
7. If I stay, am I up for the fight, stress, and agony in this season of my life?
8. Does this environment bring out my best self, gifts and talents? Am I able to be creative or am I stifled?
9. Am I frustrated and unable to grow or am I still growing and moving ahead?

          The reality is, without a management team who understands dynamics, manages behavior, and abolishes bullying, victims have little-to-no power! Where there are bullies, everybody is pulled down and many ‘would-be’ great employees are put at a greater risk of being fired simply for defending themselves when management has neglected to do so. True power, however, comes by thinking outside the box and counting the personal and professional cost, assessing alternative opportunities and strategies, and understanding that there is no job or amount of money that is worth sacrificing your own wellbeing for.

[i] http://womenofhr.com/dont-put-up-with-workplace-bullying/ by Judy Lindenberger, President of Lindenberger Group, an award winning Human Resource Consulting firm

      Walking through the mall one day, I saw a sign for teeth whitening. Not being fond of the idea of having it done in a booth in the center of the mall, I decided if it would save a couple hundred dollars, it would be worth the humiliation, particularly if done during weekday hours when most people are at school and work. The sign had three prices, which made it confusing.

     The response of the salesgirl, upon enquiring, was just as confusing. The lowest price was to have your teeth three shades lighter. The middle price was five shades, and the highest price was ten shades lighter. In other words, the results of their whitening are lighter yellow teeth, lightest yellow teeth, or white teeth. You get what you pay for, they say. Without thinking, I opened my mouth and said, “So, you mean you can do a half-ass job, an ‘It’s good enough’ job, or an excellent job?” The girl laughed sheepishly and said, “Yes Mam! That’s basically what it is!”

      Since that time, two years ago, it has become more prevalent for companies and consultants to piecemeal their services as a strategy to make more money, rather than by simply doing an excellent job. How many people would keep a maid who gave a price to clean the house, and then got in there and said, “But oh! Mr. Smith! I said I would clean the bathroom! Not the toilet! That is an extra $50! And the bedroom, I will clean that too but I charge $45 to make the bed?” A smart maid knows the many factors that may arise when cleaning a house regularly, therefore, he/she will plan that into the weekly cost. Sometimes the house will be messier, perhaps after an evening of entertaining, but that is factored in. That means some weeks are easier and less time is spent than other weeks.

     Recently, I wrote a policy and procedure manual for a company that was restructuring when it became evident that they didn’t have all of the tools needed to initiate these policies. Therefore, I created them. For example, there was no ‘requisition for supplies’ form, yet we had listed in the manual that part of the process included filling out a form, therefore, I created the form. The only questions I asked the contracting company was, “Do you already have a form?” (and if so, let’s get it in here) and, “Do you want me to create one?” No extra cost! Colleagues asked why I wasn’t adding more onto the price, since creating the many forms was not in the original contract. So why didn’t I? You may ask.

      Because, as an expert in my field, it is my job to know what needs will likely arise when we do a project, and to factor that into my cost. I had already assumed that they would likely not have all of the tools needed to adequately follow the procedures. That is fairly common when a company hires us to do any type of streamlining of processes – which is the very reason they are hiring us. Therefore, part of my job that was not specifically discussed in the contract but means turning out an excellent product, is to know what peripheral tasks will come up and to already be on top of that with my pricing and planning. By doing so, there are no last minute additions to the cost, and the job can be done in its entirety, with excellence.

     The a' la carte marketing and execution trend means that many times, the contracting business or agency is not fully aware of what it will take to get the job done properly, and they get Nichol and dimed to death as, with each new task, more money is demanded. This type of service can put small, struggling companies out of business in no time flat due to spending money and not getting the intended results. I don’t like that! Quality is quality! 

     Though there is a balance between demands that are not related to the project or task at hand, anything that is necessary to turning out the completed product with excellence should be included in the price. The contracting business should not have to worry about those things. As stated before, a true expert knows what those tasks may be and he/she prices accordingly at the onset of the contact. The result is an excellent overall product at a previously agreed upon price.

Until recently, I had given little thought to the cycles of ever-changing teams, such as in the retail setting.  A question I may have asked is, "Does this even apply?"   Having not been in retail for nearly 25 years, I took a part time job this Christmas season in a major department store, for the simple reason that I needed more exercise.  What I got was much more than that, a huge education, and had a blast doing it.

It didn't take long to see the common dynamics of a team play out.  'Forming - is what happens any time one or more people leave or join a team.  Storming - whether a person enters or leaves on good or bad terms, the roles of existing members must be redefined.  This is when, in a new or unhealthy team, insecurity and fighting takes place, often due to the setting and re-establishing of boundaries.

Norming is when roles become re-defined and people start feeling more at ease with their adjusted role and with each other.  Performing is when the team starts working together and 'hitting it out of the ball park'.   

Apparently, because of the mass amounts hired during the holidays,a lot of 'storming' goes on.  Upon bringing up the cycles of teams to a store manager, the response was, "That doesn't apply here.  The company has their own policies and procedures."  Yes!  Most do.  But a good CEO would also relish managers who developed their own solutions to chronic problems.  

I thought about this quite a bit.  How does this apply in the retail setting? Preset standards of Communication; standards of behavior; and preset expectations are a huge help!  Boundaries and limits are another.  It's one thing to feel at odds or uncomfortable with a co-worker.  But when it plays out in front of customers, lines are crossed and business can be lost as well, or at the very least, a bad reputation may be established.

One of our goals at SLC is to create training and tools that are applicable to any workplace setting (including industrial and manufacturing) and may be tailored towards those settings.  Though I've facilitated some of the same training and implemented tools as a consultant in the retail setting, until having a front seat in the field,  I didn't fully grasp how these issues play out on the floor.   It was a huge eye-opener!

All our our training can be tailored for retail, industrial, and manufacturing settings and, Yes!  It does apply!  Too many businesses are missing out on simple ways to improve their services and do what they do even better.

Termination is sometimes the first line of defense a poorly skilled leader uses when challenged in any way by an employee - both good or bad. Several years ago, we dealt with an agency who, over the previous 4 years, had a 90% employee turnover rate.  At the same time, revenues decreased and opportunities dropped to the wayside as it became obvious to the community that those leading the organization didn't have the knowledge or skills to mobilize or lead a team.

As one employee after another was ushered out the door, valuable information went with them.   New workers soon discovered that they were left to their own devices to figure things out because current employees no longer had the needed information.  Training was a foreign concept.  New employees came and then were fired because they were deemed incompetent, or they left by choice once they knew they realized the situation.  

Consequently, the very problems that leadership thought they had obliterated reared their ugly heads again and again, simply because the origin of the problems still existed: leaders who attempted to solve problems by shooting the messenger.

A company that has chronic problems with employees and/or high turnover rate must first look at the leaders of those departments.   It would do any company well to ensure that, when putting people into supervisory positions, they have the qualifications, skill-set, and people skills to effectively lead the team to meet the intended goals.   Monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or at the very least, twice yearly leadership training and activities will keep leadership skills fresh and updated.

While many companies struggle to figure out what is eating their profits, those who put the right people in key positions and ensure they are adequately trained will likely see an increase in revenue for many reasons; one being reduced turnover.  If your company has a revolving door, it is time to evaluate the costs to the bottom line to see who is ushering your profits out the doors.  The return of investment for a comprehensive leadership program will far outweigh the high cost of employee turnover.  

Last summer, I was invited to sit on a planning commission for a political event.  The meeting was to start at 9:00 a.m.   Having just come on board, I knew no one on the team. Upon arriving at the meeting at 8:59, I was surprised to find the discussion already in full swing, though many were still arriving.  A young, very meticulously dressed woman in her twenties was running the meeting.  This was my first time to meet her, though she had emailed me to ask that I join the committee. 

The conversation continued without acknowledgement or even a glance at myself or anyone who was still arriving.  Having not been introduced to the group and showing up as a virtual stranger, it was an awkward hour sitting there as though I were invisible.

One woman did all the talking.  She apparently was the first to arrive and sat next to the facilitator, who focused all of her attention on the Chatty Cathy.  Therefore, the rest of us sat silently, perhaps making the same observations.  Questions were put out about dates and times without a glance at the rest of us.  Therefore, Chatty Cathy made all of the decisions.  Worse, the leader just took her vote and moved to the next agenda without engaging the group.

The meeting ended without an acknowledgement of the other people in the room and no introductions were made, even the leader introducing herself.  I left frustrated,   wondering why any of us, aside from Chatty Cathy, had been summoned in the first place. Chatty Cathy seemed quite capable without us. The tone for the project was set in this meeting and that is pretty much how it went through the end, resulting in far more chaos than was necessary.

 A business or project can be set up for failure from the start if the leader is not equipped and trained on managing a team.  Those who are experiencing poor results or interpersonal issues within their own departments or projects would do well to get training on group facilitation, and a place to start is with meetings.  Do you have a formal opening and closing?  Are you engaging the group?  Are you balancing the input between the team members and weighing the information before making decisions?  Learning how to effectively run a meeting is a key foundational building block to the success any project or business. 

This is because the person who is put in the leadership position, though he possesses the job or goal specific eduction, experience, and skill-set, he (or she) does not possess the people and leadership skills to mobilize the team and motivate them to move forward efficiently, nor the skills to raise the emotional intelligence (EI) level of the team.   Worse, those with higher levels of  EI may see a decline in that area.    The result is that chaos, dissension, stress, and low morale take precedence over corporate goals and this leads to decreased profits. 

One of the key factors that determine the success of a department, team, agency, or company is in who is placed in leadership positions.  If the symptoms discussed in the previous paragraph are prevalent in the workplace, it is a symptom of poor leadership.  Simply put, it is likely that the wrong person has been put in a leadership position, or   has not been trained properly on managing others and understanding they psycho-dynamics of workplace relationships and egos.

Our team of consultants who have partnered together to help companies reach and surpass their goals have had front row seats observing various companies revenues soar simply by putting the right people  - those who possess a strong emotional IQ and have strong people skills - in leadership positions and putting those with job-specific skill-sets in the positions that need these skills and will utilize them.

  The morale of the story is, just because a person is an engineer doesn't mean he/she should lead a team on an engineering project.  There must be a balance of skill-specific qualifications and the people skills to lead and motivate a team.  If your company is struggling with the above symptoms or is not reaching its income/revenue goals, identify where the troubled areas are and decide what qualifications are needed to lead that department, project or company,  along with the necessary people skills and move in the direction of putting the right people in the right positions.  The result will be a positive difference in the bottom line!

2011 Encyclopedy of Energy, edited by Morris E. Pierce, produced by Golson Media, published by Salem Press
2010 Von mir aus... Studie ueber den architektonischen Bewegungsraum, published by Koenigshausen & Neumann, Wuerzburg, Germany
2008 Das Leben kennt den Weg (Life knows its Way), published by Pro-Business, Berlin 2005 Sounds of the City - Reflections on an Intercultural Project in: What Makes Sense? Cultural Management and the Question of Values in a Shifting Landscape“, ed. By Hermann Voesgen and ENCACT – European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centres
2002 Updates. Visuelle Medienkompetenz (Visual Media Competence), with Arthur Engelbert, published by Koenigshausen & Neumann, Wuerzburg

Manja's presentations include:
06/2005 Orientation in the ordinary listening room, three seminar groups from Palermo
(Italy), Plymouth (England), and Potsdam (Germany) presented an Audio-CD with
typical sounds of their cities as well as interactive installations on the annual ENCATconference
in Potsdam.
04/2003 The In-Visibility of the State, speech given during the workshop ImagePower about
the cultural change in contemporary China by invitation of the research circle, Critics
of Visual Media, in Potsdam
10/2000 Performance 9/11 and the Iconographic Controversy during the scientific workshop,
Ban on Images - Power of Images, Patmos, Greece

Manja's Scientific and Administrative Activities include:

Member: APA – American Philosophical Association
Member: ISEE – International Society for Environmental Ethics
Member: Research Circle Critics of Visual Media, University of Applied Sciences,
University of Potsdam, Germany (2001-2004)
http://forge.fh-potsdam.de/~Kultur/PROJECTS/kdb/index.htm
Member: Appointment Committee, European Media Sciences, Bachelor and Master
Program, University of Potsdam (2000)

Manja speaks the following languages:
German: native language
English: very good
Russian: good
French: good
Mandarin: basic knowledge

And this is only the abbreviated version folks!

What are some signs that your leaders and employees have lost focus of corporate goals and are self focused?

High turnover, fear, rampant gossip mill, leaders and//or employees who seek to hide each others assets and squash one another's success, anger, frustration, job-hunting during work hours, communication issues, leaders and employees who misrepresent one another, and leaders who stand in the way of employee progress or reaching of goals.

By hiring and training 'corporate-goal' minded leaders who possess high emotional intelligence and the people skills to effectively lead a team around the obstacles to higher levels of performance, the return of investment will far outweigh any initial costs in getting the right people and equipping them with the necessary tools to pull it off.

I've heard it said that our passion is God's voice telling us our life's purpose. We all come to a crossroads in life where we either listen to that voice and begin doing only that which supports our life's purpose, or continue to live a life where every day actions have nothing to do with goals and passion, never realizing our potential.

Businesses are often inadvertently run the same way; day-to-day activities either have little to do with the ultimate goals or they are filled with 'noise' (chaos, inefficient communication, interpersonal conflicts, and unnecessary stress) that pushes the business further from its goals and thwarts progress and growth. At Streamlined Concepts LLC. our passion is to help individuals and businesses remove the 'noise' that prevents them from maximizing potential and to align activities, connections, and relationship with their ultimate goals, and then watch them flourish!