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There is no easy way to handle a boss who is a bully, but early intervention may help, rather than staying quiet and waiting for things to turn peachy.
How to handle a bully boss
It was 8:15am. I had an international call scheduled at 8:30 am with the Project Architect in Palo Alto, CA. We had both attended the requirements meeting a week ago, where pilot customers dictated their requirements and we untangled technical difficulties and resolved project issues. I was the Indian Project Lead responsible for the development team sitting across the aisle.
8:20 am. I logged in the Goto Meeting site and kept the window open for the call. My notes for the call and print outs of documents with markups and comments were neatly stacked in front of me. It was an hour long call but one that would keep us working through the whole week so we had to ensure that the call was efficient and effective.
8:25 am. My manager walks in. We both nod and sip our coffee.
8:30am sharp the phone rings and my manager rushes to grab the phone, speaks privately and exchanges morning niceties. I’m left gaping. He takes my printouts and slides my notes and starts orchestrating the call. Halfway he switches the speaker phone and lets everybody know about my presence.
During the next year this was a regular occurrence. During an important discussion, my statements would be interrupted mid-sentence. My communications would never land on the intended inboxes because he was the single point connector who could choose to delete or forward mails. Even though I was technically proficient my decisions were shoved aside or often quoted as his suggestions.
Meanwhile I grew frustrated, agitated and depressed. At times I thought of quitting a job that I was extremely passionate about.
It turns out mine was. Working for a bully not only deteriorates your performance but also wreaks havoc on your professional life. Sometimes the stress can extend itself into your personal space as well. How do you identify these nefarious, covert yet rampant figures?
If you answered affirmatively for any of the above, you could very well be working for a bully boss in a tumultuous atmosphere that sucks the camaraderie and zeal from your workplace. Continuing to work under such circumstances could demotivate you and lead to extreme levels of anxiety. But this is not a coffee corner conversation.
Bullying is common from the playground to the workplace. It starts early and leads to exploitation. Confronting a bullying boss is not always successful but early intervention might work in your favor. Don’t just put up without a fight. In the end only you can decide if it’s truly worth it.
Pic credit: dgoomany (Used under a CC license)
Meera R Corera (@meeraramanathan) is a SAP Consultant. She also pursues her passion for writing focusing on all things India — women, travel, immigration, food and cinema read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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