click here to Download Savvy Intrapreneur Free Toolbar for
Opportunities * Jobs * Trusted Networks * Events * Tools

1991 - 1993

Bully: Smarlene Loveless

Food chain position: Chief Financial Officer

Achilles Heel: She wanted to desparately belong. She spun a web of being your colleague with the appearance of tantamount confidence and seemingly helping you every step of the way, in developing your career.

Modus Operandi: Draws you in by building you up.

Profile: She carried her middle aged, but strikingly beautiful body at 6' 2" with an over powering confidence that would engulf anyone to bow down before her. She had a killer personality that could make anyone (below or above her) feel good about themselves. Initially being around her would make anyone commit [company wise] purjury, murder someone or just plain cut someone's throat to champion her agenda.

Food chain: Myself and 2 other key administrative operational managers reported directly to her.
-------------------------
Fast forward: One day, her secretary told me Smarlene made her so crazy, she [the secratary] would smoke 10 cigarettes in the dark in her apartment evey evening. The kicker was, the secretary was not a smoker, per se.

Rewind: The first 2 weekly 1 on 1 meetings I had with Smarlene drew some serious interest from other staff. Each time I exited her office, there were staff milling around her office for some unexplainable reason. On the 3rd weekly departure from Smarlene's office I asked the staff, hanging around her office "what's the deal with all of you being around whenever I have a meeting with Smarlene?" One person spoke up by saying "you are the only manager Smarlene does not scream and yell at during her staff meeting". We have been curious as to why she doesn't yell at you". I told them "there will be no yelling. I have schooled Smarlene on that subject at our first reporting meeting".

I told Smarlene "if you are angry at something I did or have not done by your specificaions, you're entitled to be angry at my results. Do not scream or yell at me. I expect to be treated as a person, with respect. I will treat you with respect. If you ever yell or scream at me, I will terminate our conversation until you have had time to relax and rethink your approach with the issue. I respect you and you will respect me as a human being". Smarlene was obviously taken aback by my statement as she knew she had not done anything for my statement to be presented. Of course, she agreed with me. My statement was thinking long term, as I quickly sized up what type of relationship she intended to have with me.

She continued to yell and lambaste the other mangaers, but not me. Smarlene and I had a great business relationship. She got what she wanted from me and she gave me what I wanted. Respect 101.


Moral of the Story?
Preempt a bully strike, before they strike you down. No human being should allow another human being to scream or yell at them - EVER. Once you start allowing a person stick their hand in the cookie jar of your self worth, they will continue sticking their hand in the cookie jar.

Fear feeds people a steady diet of mediocrity. You are what you eat.

Copyright (c) C. E. Reid 2005

1987 - 1988

Bully: Sharon "Susan twirley hair" Smiley

Food chain position: Risk Management Central Office Director over 12 healthcare facilities

Achilles Heel: Shallow personality.

Modus Operandi: She thought she was the cat's meow with her condescending facade packaged in a "I'm just like you" approach.

Profile: She carried a slumped over 5' 1" nothing body frame which exuded no confidence what so ever. She always made everyone who visited her office wait, even people with appointments. She had no personality (I know I said that before). Her staff hated her with a passion, while they presented a "All Hail to Sharon" welcome, to her visitors.

Food chain: JB (premo project manager, while supporting her team) along with DL, RW and myself all worked in another department called Patient Care Systems. We were an internal service provider, for the same central office, to Ms. Thang's department of Risk Management.
-------------------------
Fast forward: We were tasked with developing (the computer field, now called IT for Information Technology, used to call it programming) a software package for Risk Management to track lawsuits against the company's healthcare facilties. Ms. Smiley's lead project manager, Susan, had a nervous breakdown half way through our project. At first, Susan appeared to be normal and on our side during the beginning stages of the project. Sharon caught wind of Susan's allegiance to us as normail people and proceeded to mentally pound Susan into the freaking dirt. This was done off-line to our meetings. At a halfway mark project meeting, Susan began twirling her hair for no apparent reason. Susan had obviously lost it. This gives you a good indication of the diabolical creature we only sometimes had to interact with. Unfortunately, Susan had to deal with Sharon everyday.

Rewind: Despite Sharon our project was an overwhelming success. JB had put a great team together. We were family for the few seconds in the millenium of life and very collaborative in looking out for each other. Our comradre help us get through this project while enduring internal departmental growing pains. Our department got bounced around from downtown New York City to moving multiple times within an uptown ofice building. We had lost our senior vice president, who was the guardian angel of our corporate "red headed step child" department. But we persevered through this project, despite Sharon's futile bullying. JB kept her at bay and out of our hair.

While JB fended off Sharon and we wound down the Risk management project, we began to ramp up for our next adventure. Without going in to details, but learning from previous bully experiences, we were the 1st team to spearhead local area networks into our corporation. Yup. This was a milestone marker, because the corporation was computer mainframe based, until we made the presentation and received "buy in" from senior management. I still place this accomplishment on my resume.

Moral of the Story?
People who seem to be your friend by seemly attempting to talk about things that inerest you, are not your freaking friends. Find out what really makes them tick when they are trying to be the sincerest of people.

Fear feeds people a steady diet of mediocrity. You are what you eat.

Copyright (c) C. E. Reid 2005