Do you think bullies at work are aware they are bullies?

<p>It is hard to put ourselves in the shoes of someone else and that is what I’m asking the panelists to do with this question.</p> <p> </p> <p>I didn’t share this story during the conversation but I think it is relevant:</p> <p> </p> <p>When I was in junior high there was a group of four of us; me, my brother just younger than me and our two best friends, who always knew the answers in Bible class (it was a very small K-8th religious school). We were rewarded for that by the teachers and parents and looked up to by all the other kids.</p> <p> </p> <p>I never thought of the four of us as bullies. But my middle sister (six years younger than me) remembers us have “the power” in the school.</p> <p> </p> <p>I wonder how that translates to the workplace. Do bullies realize they are wielding power and intimidating people?</p> <p> </p> <p>Chelle Shapiro started us off on an empathic note by wondering what happens to someone that turns them into a bully.</p> <p> </p> <p>Catherine Fitzgerald added that she think bullying behavior comes from a deep seated feeling of unworthiness and that it is unlikely that the person doing the bullying is thinking about the receiver at all.</p> <p> </p> <p>Atif Agha brought up a really good point about the role workplace culture plays in bullying. Are the bullies being rewarded for the success they achieve by being toxic, putting other people down or holding them back?</p> <p> </p> <p>He also said he thinks most bullies do know what they are doing but they have reasons and are able to justify it to themselves and maybe to others.</p> <p> </p> <p>About halfway through this conversation I asked the follow-up question – what is bullying? That might need an entire conversation on its own.</p> <p> </p> <p>Atif gave a pretty clear definition and juxtaposed it to competition.</p> <p> </p> <p>Do you have a clear definition for what bullying is and do you think that bullies in the workplace know they are being bullies?</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Connect with the panelists: Atif Agha: https://www.li