Gordon Brown and bullying

The allegations of bullying by Gordon Brown are the top news story this morning. Whether or not there is any substance in the allegations, sadly I doubt that Gordon Brown is the only boss in the land who has staff who may feel that they are bullied. One of the most popular shows on TV is "the apprentice". This involves a group of staff being monstered on a weekly basis by Sir Alan Sugar. Then there are the shows where Gordon Ramsey goes into other peoples restaurants, F's and Blinds at them and lo and behold, the place which previously served hogswill suddenly is transformed into a Michelin starred restaurant.

Many years ago, there was a series called "Troubleshooter". It started Sir John Harvey Jones, former chairman of ICI. He'd go into failing companies and use his wealth of experience to turn the companies around. Did he swear at the staff? No, although he probably felt like it. He'd politely explain why their company was failing and what they needed to do to turn it around. Did Sir John become a megastar in the Sugar/Ramsey mould? No, but he probably saved a few companies and a few hundred jobs. The trouble is that these days people love to watch people being bullied. Why else is Simon Cowell such a prime time star? Do we watch X factor so we can see Simon discover a new talent and tell them they are marvellous? Of course we don't we want to watch him monster a poor hapless wannabee who is dazzled by the bright lights.

Have you ever worked for a bully? I have. I'm a fairly robust sort of person, I always have been. I wouldn't have thought anyone would bully me, but I was wrong. Lets call my ex boss "Jane". She did her best to bully everyone. My turn came when my father suddenly had a heart attack and died. I rang in to say that my father had passed away and I wouldn't be in for a few days. She instantly retorted "The Company rules state that you are allowed one days compassionate leave, I expect you to come in tomorrow". I responded that I would be in when I felt up to coming in. I waited a week, to be honest I still wasn't right, but thought that I had to get back to normal life sometime. As I walked into the office, a colleague approached me and said "Oh, so you've decided to turn up". I responded "Did Jane tell you why I was off". He replied "She said you couldn't be bothered to come in". Suppressing my anger, I replied "So she didn't tell you that my father had a heart attack and had died then?". My colleague looked shocked and replied "er, No". He then suggested that I follow him. he took me over the road, to a cafe, bought me a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich and said "Stay here, I need to tell everyone else. I don't want anyone else putting their foot in it". About half an hour later he came back and said "We're all really sorry. we'd have sent some flowers if we'd known. Everyone is really upset with Jane." I explained what she'd said. My friend then said "She was lying, the rules state that you are allowed 5 days compassionate leave". I was too emotionally low to tell her what I thought of her. My colleague did. She responded that she only took half a day for the funeral when her father died. She never apologised for lying. I left the company shortly after.

I don't think that systematic bullying of staff is ever tolerable. I employ nine people and I sincerely hope that I have the respect and trust of my staff without needing to terrorise them. I work in the music industry and I feel that the Cowell approach to talent is awful. I wonder how Morrissey, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Meatloaf, Marc Almond to name a few would have fared on X-Factor? I suspect that all you end up with if you are completely stifling, overbearing and aggressive, that all you end up with is clones and yes men. This is as true in politics as in music.I have n doubt that if Gordon Brown actually engaged with colleagues, respected their opinions and listened to their views, that  he'd be a far more successful Prime Minister.

The bottom line is that as far as I'm concerned there is no place for bullying. This is true whether it's in the playground, on X-Factor, in the workplace or in the Prime Ministers office. Sadly I think that our culture actually promotes it.