How Do You Handle A Bullying Boss?
• Write it down. This is really important. When your boss says or does something inappropriate, write a memo stating that the behavior is unacceptable, distracts from work, and you want it to stop. If it happens again, copy her/his boss, or an HR manager, on your second memo to the boss. • Contact the corporate ethics and/or employee assistance groups. Both of these groups should be confidential (hopefully), but may not exist in smaller companies. Talking it over with a confidant may help and at least enables you to clarify your thoughts. The fact that you contacted either group may be helpful later to confirm the duration of your complaint. • Formally document the boss’ action (or inaction). The next time you are getting ready to work on a big project, run off a few documents and attach a formal memo, with the date and your name, to one of the documents stating “This looks good to me, but I wanted to run it past you. What do you think?” and date the note. Make a quick copy and tuck it
