Bullies. We know they exist. We know we should fire them. But can we afford to? And what happens if we don’t?
A friend from a major law firm in town recently told me about a senior litigation partner of hers who was famous for being rude. No secretary wanted to work for him. It was always f- this and f- that, and f- this person and all that. Not only did this guy cuss, but he was a mean cuss. 
His partners sat him down and told him to shape up. His response? As a litigator, he needed the f-word to do his job.
You know the type.
What did the firm do? Decided he brought in too much revenue to reprimand too harshly.
He’s a classic “Destructive Achiever.” That’s a great term coined by retired management professor Chuck Kelly in his 1988 book
Chances are you’ve met a Destructive Achiever. The typical American worker has a 50 percent chance of working for a bully in his or her lifetime, and one in five Americans works for a bully right now.
Bullies thrive during a recession, and have thrived in this one, because in bad times companies especially focus on their achievements while forgiving their bad behavior.
But new research shows that in fact, bullies cut a swath of destruction far worse than anyone imagined. Management professors Christine Pearson and Christine Porvath conducted a study of 4,000 employees at the receiving end of bullying behavior and found:
48% decreased their work effort,
47% decreased their time at work,
38% decreased their work quality,
66% said their performance declined,
80% lost work time worrying about the incident,
63% lost time avoiding the offender, and
78% said their commitment to the organization declined.
Turns out that it’s during a recession that companies should beware the collateral damage caused by bullies.
My primary message regarding that megalomaniacal jerk in your ranks is: Cut Him (or Her) Loose. That said, I understand that, like the law firm above, you may conclude that your bully brings too much benefit to cut loose, at least in the short term. It’s a recession, and revenue is revenue.
It’s a deal with the devil. But if you have to make it, you don’t have to lose your soul – or leave your colleagues in harm’s way. Focus on gaining the benefits of the ‘achiever’ – such as his ability to bring in new business or solve technically demanding problems. Meanwhile, remove his management responsibilities. Reassign his direct reports and otherwise isolate him to minimize his destructiveness to the rest of the organization. You’ll be doing your people, and yourself, a favor.
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For more on this subject, read:
- The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It
- The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t
