A Decision To Remain
No sooner than I planned my exit from my new job, the tables turned rather quickly. Two of the managers that were issues for me were fired from their positions. It was easy to see that I wasn’t the only one that felt that these managers were bullies of negativity and brutal verbal assaults. They bullied anyone that came into their path. They even bullied their flying monkeys, but they were more prone to give their flying monkeys special privileges for their blind loyalties.
It turns out, according to three coworkers, that I may have been a catalyst to change within the work environment. However, I take their words loosely with a grain of salt. Since I wasn’t the only one who’s experienced disrespect from those bully managers, I would suspect that I wasn’t the only one who spoke against their mistreatment. Nevertheless, a complaint was filed against two managers for being workplace bullies based on their mistreatment of coworkers beneath them in position. I will say, those two managers had it coming, but, in my opinion, they aren’t the only ones who should have been let go.
Workplace Chaos
Needless to say, all hell broke loose on the job with specific flying monkeys easily siding with the bully managers. I was surprised, however, by a few coworkers who actually labeled themselves as supporters of the bully managers, even though these same supporters were frustrated with the way these bully managers treated them. Although I hadn’t actually reported these managers to human resources (HR) with my own complaints, I was building a well documented file with dates and time-stamps of a host of my grievances. Perhaps someone overheard me explaining my techniques for thorough documentation in case I ever wanted to report something to HR.
Document, document, document! AND then document some more. Be so very specific when you do document. This way, there are always facts and evidence with a paper trail that ultimately can’t be denied when perpetrators are called to the carpet of accountability. Many corporations allow for anonymous reporting, and this happens to be the case of the corporation with which I have affiliation. Once a complaint is filed, the human resource department investigates. The only thing, though, is that the hiring manager who reminds me of my narcissist mother handles all human resource claims. I suspect that she’d be in cahoots with the other managers with like attitudes because as I have seen in the past, this is usually always the case.
In fact, in my former career, I gave documentation to HR about a claim of harassment, and they were very dismissive regarding my claims. They basically gaslighted me even though the person who harassed me had a record on file of harassing others. Because of that HR department’s dismissive attitudes towards me, I quietly obtained legal counsel and had my claims presented to them again. It was then that HR immediately handled the situation because they didn’t want to face a lawsuit. So, in this work case, I believe whoever filed the complaint against the two bully managers went over the hiring manager’s head.
The two bully managers were fired with what seemed like a quickness, and the hiring manager immediately faded into the background of silence. I’m so glad to see that this corporation takes bullying within the workplace seriously, but I also learned that those bully managers were also fired for a compilation of other reasons tied to their actual jobs as well. In a nutshell, they were bullying thieves, and without knowledge of this when I was first hired, I unknowingly called this out with one of them, and that bully manager did everything possible to disguise the micro-scowl that emerged on their face.
The last day I remember seeing these two now fired bully managers together, I distinctly recall a gut feeling that something was up. I had no clue they were already under investigation by the employers. I had no idea what had already taken place behind the scenes, but once they were gone, their entire hive of miniature queen bees were shaken to the core and began buzzing about in a tizzy. In essence, these queen bees or flying monkeys had been rattled because they no longer had narcissistic leaders to rally around and worship. Their ascent to the throne of entitlement had been torn down making way for a fast descent to the hard floor of consequences.
A New Manager
A new manager came to town, and this manager has been nothing more than a God-send for the victims of these narcissistic bully managers’ abuses. This new manager quickly came in and established a dominance that was refreshingly respectful of everyone but unwilling to put up with narcissistic foolishness. Since corporations are typically about the money, this new manager came in and immediately stood upon company business and re-established the original rules that had long since been thrown out the window under the former bully managers’ evil rule.
Needless to say, I decided to stick around and see how this would all play out. I wanted to study the dynamics of a broken down, dysfunctional system within a workplace with narcissistic managers who are given the axe. Plus, the pressure of negativity I once felt upon me since these bully managers were gone had released me into a different arena. In fact, I’m amazed by how quickly these attitudes of the remaining managers changed almost entirely. These are now hiding in plain sight but careful not to ruffle feathers in front of the new manager. So, it’s all good.
In fact, I’m overjoyed that the hiring manager, whose behaviors resemble those of my mother’s narcissistic behaviors, has all but disappeared from my path now. When I actually do encounter the hiring manager, she is careful to simply speak to me with a half smile while seemingly searching within my eyes with an intensity that tells me if she wonders if I’m the catalyst for all the sudden change. Although I am not the catalyst that set change in motion, it’s safe to say that the hiring manager will stay out of my way for a while.
Keep reading for Part 2.
My Voice Unchained 