Have you heard of Alexandra Robbins? She’s the author of “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School.”

I’m not asking because you’re a parent, but because you’re a manager—or one of the adult geeks (of which there are millions).

I haven’t read it, but reading the NYT review made me realize how little some things change.

Robbins writes about teens and the angst of being a geek and the serious pain that these teens face every day she says, “Bullying and exclusion are rampant.”

I’m not a researcher and certainly don’t claim any special credentials, but anyone who believes the popularity and fitting-in thing ends with high school or even college graduation is either deaf, dumb and blind, from an alternate reality or an entirely different planet.

Bullying in the work world is not only a corporate hot topic, but also fast becoming a business. (I wrote about that here and corrected misunderstandings of that post here.)

Adults still want to sit with the cool kids at lunch (Google, Facebook), hang with the jocks (Intel, litigation lawyers) or be accepted by the soshes (definition #2) (investment bankers, hedge fund managers).

What changes is the protective layers adults learn to build and the depth at which they bury their pain. The older they are the stronger their armor, the deeper the pain, the less they expect it to change and the more they disengage.

And the more they disengage, the more critical it becomes for managers at every level to

1. make damn sure they are not part of the problem; and then
2. make damn sure they become part of the solution in their little corner of the world.

That solution is found in the local culture, i.e., the culture you create within your own organization.

Just as adults strengthen their protective armor, bullies learn to mask their activities.

There are three things you can do, whether it is to pre-empt or stop these acts.

1. Start by publicly stating that you have zero tolerance for bullying and similar actions.
2. Create a safe path for the people in your group (whether small team or entire department) to share bullying when it happens, whether they are the target or a spectator.
3. Investigate before accusing, but follow-up is mandatory as are consequences—no matter who is involved.

And if you find yourself having to spend some of your precious resources, especially time, to accomplish this keep in mind that what goes on below you has a direct impact on your compensation.

Flickr image credit: ZedBee | Zoë Power

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 at 1:15 am and is filed under Culture, Ducks In A Row. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: bully, good
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