The Complete Lawyer to Out Workplace Bullies
UPDATE: THAT WAS ME SHAKING THE PACKAGES UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE WHEN I DIRECTED MY READERS TO THE JANUARY '08 ISSUE OF THE COMPLETE LAWYER ON WORKPLACE BULLYING.
Assuming everyone is far more patient than I am (instant gratification takes too long) your patience will be amply rewarded if you don't open links to the incomplete Complete Lawyer of 2008 until the first week of January.
Apologies to Don Hutcheson and crew who put out the best looking online legal journal on the block!
The upcoming issue of the Complete Lawyer (Vol. IV, Issue 1) will be outting the bullies among us . . . . but, please don't open until after Christmas.
My article Why Lawyers Are Unhappy… And Make Others Unhappy, Too is a personal confessional of workplace misbehavior. In fact, it's just about as personal as you can get without committing professional suicide. But hey! Somebody had to fess up and when you're the jerk in the workplace, it's you who is usually the last to know. As my regular readers know, however, there is a happy ending to this one.
I feature my own article first here only because I can. The other authors addressing the issue of workplace bullying should be front and center because they are luminaries in their fields. Take a look at:
The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University
How to Spot and Deal with Jerks by Julie Fleming Brown, author of the renowned Life at the Bar blog
Create a Blueprint for a Bullying Free Workplace by Gary Namie, North America's foremost authority on Workplace Bullying
Defining and Legislating Bullying by Garry Mathiason, vice chair of Littler Mendelson, and, according to the National Law Journal, one of the 100 most influential attorneys in the nation
Yes, There are Ways to Reform Workplace Jerks by Employment Practices Specialist Allison West
In this crowd, I feel like Zelig!
Comments (3)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endChris Annunziata - December 20, 2007 9:48 AM
Very brave article. Having been the (male) "Courtney" to your senior partner at more than one job, it was refreshing to read someone admitting they were too much of a (your word) jerk.
I learned how to deal with the jerk(s) in my former professional life by various techniques. Some by doing superb work, some by avoidance.
But what about the incompetent supervisors? The Michael Scott's of the world? I have also had more than one partner who was self-assured, but borderline incompetent. I found those FAR harder to deal with because they are alwasy on the verge of committing malpractice, as opposed to simply being committed.
Vickie - December 20, 2007 2:05 PM
It always troubles me when someone uses that word "brave" in connection with something confessional I've written (though I've altered and collapsed a half dozen anecdotes into three to protect the innocent).
Still, these are human failings which most of us spend a disproportionate amount of time justifying or denying.
When one person "outs" one or more of these failings in herself, she gives the rest of us permission to stop fooling ourselves; to recognize that we are not the worst person on the planet; to address the problem; and, to move on to more productive pursuits.
We are all fallible. And we are all capable of this -- and much worse.
If we treat one another with compassion and understanding rather than condemnation, the world would be a better place.
That, at any rate, is the hope and my belief.
Thanks for dropping by to comment. Your blog is one of the best ADR blogs going & I'm honored that you consistently read mine.
Chris Annunziata - December 21, 2007 6:13 PM
Flattery will get you everywhere. Thank you for the kind words, but I've been heavy on the fluff lately. I hope to do better in the new year as cases ramp up (hopefully giving me fertile material) and I slug through all the reading material that has piled up (2 books, 6+ articles). Part of me hopes the TV writers remain on strike for a few more weeks.