The Bully at Work: What You Can Do to Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity on the Job

by Gary Namie and Ruth Namie

Book Overview

A landmark book that blazed light on one of the business world's dirtiest secrets, The Bully at Work exposed the destructive, silent epidemic of workplace bullying that devastates the lives, careers,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570715343
• ISBN13: 9781570715341
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Bully at Work: What You Can Do To Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity On the job

The Bully at Work: What You Can Do To Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity On the job If you want to learn about the phenomenon of workplace bullying which has become an epidemic in recent years, get this book right now. Bullying at work involves pre-mediated, repeated, malicious mistreatment of one employee by one or more employees. This mistreatment is a sort of psychological violence. Its purpose is to steal all that the target has and the bully envies. It prevents the target from getting his/her work done. The workplace bully abuses power, causes misery to his/her target and endeavors hard to steal the target's self-confidence, perceptions of self- competence and goodness. Gradually, bully involves others in this hateful campaign against the target. Bullies use many tactics such as blaming for errors, unreasonable work demands, insults and putdowns, exclusion, stealing credit, threatening job loss, criticism of ability, and discounting of accomplishments. The book discusses types of bullies. It also includes discussion on who bullies choose for targets. Targets are genuinely bright, creative, dedicated, and self-assured individuals. Since they pose a threat to the bully, the bully works hard to undermine them. As a result of bullying, the targets might experience fear, shame, humiliation, and loss of dignity and it can impact their physical health, mental health and productivity at work. I recommend this book to every individual in American workforce. It is an eye opener. I also recommend that you visit Namie website, Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute [bullyinginstitute. Org]. I really am grateful to Gary Namie and Ruth Namie for witting such a masterpiece on the topic of workplace bullying. It can save lives and careers.

Definitive advice for workplace bullying targets

The Bully at Work (2009 edition) is a significant update of a pathbreaking book. Although written specifically for targets of bullying, it will be useful to managers, human resource officers, union leaders, lawyers, mental health providers, researchers, and educators in any field involving employment relations. This is the book I recommend to people when they contact me for guidance and assistance about bullying situations they are facing at work. My recommendation of this book is concededly far from objective. I have worked with the Namies for over a decade to advance legal protections for targets of severe workplace bullying, and they are both friends and partners. Our working alliance has flourished in large part because I regard them as North America's foremost experts on the impact of workplace bullying and what individuals and organizations can do to respond to these destructive behaviors.

Great Book, a real help

Great book to help you deal with workplace bullies. Helps you cope and take the necessary measures to help yourself and others going through workplace bullying. I bought a bunch of copies to give out.

These Bully Busters helped me restore my life

I did not realize that I had been the target of a particularly skillful bully until I spotted this excellent book at the local bookstore. A man who could not tolerate a challenge to fix something that he had broken ran me out of a neighborhood. This guy and his wife used every tactic in this book to make my life miserable. I was blessed to find this book in the middle of this tumultuous event. I was then able to put the conflict into the perspective of a bully-target dynamic, and I could then take the steps to transform this nightmare into a profound journey to re-establish my strength and goodness. Bullies are toxic beings and cause havoc to decent people. The Namies document how bullying and Machiavellian competitive tactics cost the average workplace tens in not hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity, sick leave, legal fees, job loss, and the hiring and retraining of revolving door personnel. The Namies state that one in six people lose jobs as a result of workplace violence. If this were a disease this would be considered an epidemic, and the National Institute of Health would fully fund research to wipe out this phenomenon. Since I have become aware of the prevalence of bullying, nearly everyone I have talked with knows someone who has suffered from this industrial malady. If you find that you are a "typical" target, a person who loves their independence, prefers cooperation and productive problem-solving, is very skilled at what they do and an ethical whistle blower this book is essential to insure that you are protected from a Jekyl and Hyde or Screaming Mimi. Whistle blowers are the salt of the earth; each and every employee or manager (employees can bully also) should consider this book a must read.

You're NOT Crazy---This Book Tells You What To DO

I suffered an incident of bullying at work for the past two years. In my case, I got things successfully resolved when one bully left of his own accord, and the other bully was stopped by senior management (I was fired, and senior management rehired me when I went over the bully's head). According to this book, this happens in only seven percent of cases. I feel very lucky. In my case, the only piece of the puzzle that was missing was WHY this happened to me, and this book really helped clarify that for me and bring the whole incident to closure.I just found this book and read it, and if I had had it during the time all of this was going on, it would have helped me immensely. I experienced all of the behaviors described in this book, and I think the reasons given for the behavior are right on the mark. When my e-mail friends suggested the same reasons (before I read this book), I found them so far-fetched (such as perhaps I was making the bullies look bad through my competence-I said to myself, "They are professional people; surely they are self-confident about their own work.") This book looks at reasons for bullying, and who become targets for bullying behavior (how and why those targets are chosen). It discusses bullying in other European countries, as well as South Africa, and what progress legally has been made against passing laws against bullying in the workplace. These laws are compared with the legal progress/standing of the target in the United States. The book discusses health ramifications on the target, and all possible actions that can and should or should not be taken personally, and in the workplace. If I had read this book MUCH sooner (such as when the bullying FIRST started), it would have helped me emotionally. I would have realized MUCH sooner what was happening, and known that I wasn't crazy. I could have fought back sooner, and would have known how, and which strategies to use. I also would have kept detailed records of each bullying incident, and I would have gotten witnesses' statements. In short, if you are even questioning yourself about whether bullying is happening to you, or not, BUY THIS BOOK.