ChemistryGuy.com

The bully boss is in the position they are in because they figured out a way to get what they want and protect their back side at the same time. They have allies in the higher-ups that you don't. The higher ups like them because the "bully bosses" deliver something of value that makes them look good. It's one of the reasons that they are the boss and you are the drone.

Accept that fact. It's the same way everywhere. You can have good bosses and you can have bad bosses. Situations won't change unless you leave.

I suspect that there's plenty of people bemoaning their present position here, who if put into the same cat-bird seat as the bully boss finds themselves in now would just as soon resort to the same tactics as does their bully boss as a matter of their own self-preservation.

In a long term fight with a bully boss. expect Mutually Assured Destruction. I'm not reading of people outlasting bully bosses here. And it's likely you won't. Seeing your bully boss getting nailed to your satisfaction and you being able to watch it happen, while holding a tub of popcorn, perhaps? That's the kind of stuff movies are made of (see "Working Girl" or "9-to-5"). Movies are fantasy, not reality.

Change typically comes only when you leave the company. You may have tarnished the bully bosss reputations on your way out hopefully not yours too, and over time that may end up doing them in. Don't expect the immediate satisfaction of watching them get fired while somehow you think youll survive it and remain.

Face it, even if you did outlast them, and you had anything to do with them getting fired you will be labeled not as a hero, but as a pariah. Especially, if you lawyer up. The bulls-eye will be squarely on you, then. And under those circumstances see how quick you turn into that bully-boss you despise now.

I knew someone like you may pop-up in herefurther comments are unnecessary. I will answer your questions now:

Someone "like me," you say? You mean, some one who''s actually solved the bully boss problem on his own terms? I''d think there''s alot of people who''d like to do that, solve their own problem, their own way, and get on with a successful career.

1.I did not promote myself....

Yeah you did.

2. I said specifically that if there are enough interested people. Three people are not sufficient I will talk about my idea privately, not in the forum, because this forum serves other purposes.

You sound like an Amway distributor.

3. You asked about funding I did not answer because that is not the first step other that that....

All you have is a dream and you are scrounging for investors. If you are talking a cGMP compliant operation you''d better have more funding available than just yours and a couple of small bank accounts of people trying to solve a bully boss problem.

They should pull you off the board for solicitation.

4. Support group to me is not only empty talk it is action for the benefit of those who need it.

You''re merely and enabler if you don''t furnish a credible strategy to solve a problem.

You never answered to question HOW to become consultant, someone out there may be interested. I see it like this: if you are not part of the solution, you are then a part of the problem perhaps you heard that saying before.

Step 1: stop feeling sorry for yourself. Believe in yourself. Step 2: look deep inside and make an account of your skills sets. Step 3: identify costly problem(s) a client base you''d like to serve has and that your skills set can solve for them. Step 4: Network, advertise, get a web-site, develop your sales pitch. Step 5: sell your skills set. You received this advice already you have to have it spelled out for you, it seems.

5. Is your story about FDA employment really true or you just invented it for the management?

My employment with the Agency is a matter of public record and is easily searchable. Envy will get you no where. Grow up.

6.Managers cannot fire and hire people without HR approval. Companies have laws about these things.

Was someone defending HR here? HR is a rubber stamp for management and serves at the pleasure of management. They can be fired too. I have advised the dismissal of ineffective HR personnel.

7.You were bullied before and now everything is fine.

Because I worked out a strategy to make it that way.

Allow other people to go through it and be fine in the future it takes time to heal and move on....

You do that if you like. I think they are likely on a faster timetable than your advice might furnish and they want to get to a solution more quickly than any advice you have given so far.

You know, I had both psychology and psychiatry classes in medical school and can differentiate between the two.

Strangely, you find this to be relevant to the discussion. You''re seeking a pat on the head, perhaps?

8.I was not bullied because I fought back PRONTO! Once I had to change my job and lose the benefits, vacation time, seniority, and all other perks.

Now this is getting good. You weren''t bullied and you "fought back." At what, pray tell? You lost benefits, and pissed away your career for what -- NOT being bullied?

Not everyone wants to lose years of work or take risks in general, people are risk averse.

You paint with too broad a paintbrush. Problem solvers are very often calculated risk takers. Nothing grat was ever accomplished without taking on a certain amount of risk in the process. What do you think Risk-Based Analysis and REMS is all about? The riskiest solution to anything promoted on this board so far has been your own (inappropriate) solicitation.

9. One director that recently TRIED to bully me is fired... Bullies may be fired but the file remains for posterity.

That''s nice.

10. When I quit my last job I did not lie - I told them fair and square that I do not take kindly unfairness, abuse, lies, and deception I left graciously giving two weeks notice. And guess what the HR managed to mess my severance package I fought back and won but that is a discussion for another time.

Wasn''t the best planned or executed exit strategy, was it?

11.Hope I answered all questions to your satisfaction. My question for you still is: what are you specifically looking for in this forum - how can I or the others assist you?

I did not post to seek advice, but to read of strategies that worked for others and to offer my own.

12.Mohamed Ali (Cassius Clay) hired a person just to tell him constantly how great he was If you are looking for praise here, I would love to do that for you, but I have to know your accomplishments first.

Unlike you, who thinks some silly courses in psycho=babble are meaningful, I don''t need praise from a forum like this. There are people looking for new ways to solve a well known problem and they can be the solution to that problem themselves, and be paid handsomely to solve that same problem for others.

Oh, I think you got it.

It is also not clear to me what are You looking for in this forum,....

How about an answer to Jan 02, 2010, 06:32AM where it happens to be me asking you: "Do you have access to venture funding?"

You got on here promoting yourself as a kind of over-educated/under-appreciated trans-national "think-outside-the-box" problem solver and instead all you've done is leave a bunch of people with a lot of questions.

As a consultant the first deliverable is to be known as a resource capable of answering questions, not just an endless source of churning questions. Consultants in the latter group usually don't survive in this business too long.

... and what contribution you can make to those who seek support and information from others who may have similar experience and know of a solution.

If you want a support group, start one. Anyone can choose to be a victim or choose to do something about it. We've read some pretty good documentation based defensive strategies here.

I've recounted my own experience on other threads -- experience with a long time bully boss in Quality Operations: I was able to humble HIS boss in front of the exec VP of HR as I handed in my notice, informing them I had been hired by FDA. The lab manager/bully boss was eventually re-deployesd to a small place where he could do no more harm in the lab. Patience, persistence, politeness, meticulous documentation, and a carefully crafted exit strategy paid off handsomely.

As a consultant I'm well-beyond most of that. There are others on this board who'd like to get beyond it as well, and becoming a management consulting firm is one way to get beyond it.

If I see it, I point it out. I offer a solution, but I don't get involved in the "drama." My client hired me to solve his problems, not become a part of them. I've recommended that certain people be released from their duties, or be re-deployed if they'd have value somewhere else. What someone was not in a position to do for me, I have been in a position as a consultant years later to do for others. It is gratifying.

Looks like I have to spell things out for you. Hint: if an outside management consultant is on board at your firm, get to know them. They are paid big bucks to effect change for the better. They will listen because they are paid to fact find -- not be your personal HR advocate necessarily, but they will be taking notes.

If your experience and training is appropriate, you might even go into business yourself as a management consultant, and solve problems similar to those expressed here. It can be done. You just need to look inside yourself and determine what kind of problem solver in this area you are and can be.

There's alot of people on the board complaining about a problem most employers know is there. This problem drains resources and dollars, which are generally measured in lost productivity. What talent can you call upon to solve it for your employers/clients? Remember: bully bosses are just employees too. No one is indispensible.

Discrimination is real, it exists, it is not a fantasy of the few lazy and unproductive workers - I have seen it from every angle...

Didn't say it wasn't real. I said dwelling on it is of no help and one spins their wheels to do so. It's an employment hurdle like any other, it's human nature, you likely unwittingly discriminate on the basis of product presentation and selection all the time yourself. An employee is chosen over another candidate and like any product must, a candidate presents themselves with a sales pitch. The pitch works or it doesn't. You only want to work for the ones for whom the pitch works.

If a potential employer is so petty as to make their decision to hire you or not based solely on your gender or skin color, why would you ever want to work for them in the first place? Why ask to be hired by one who might likely become your next "bully boss?"

You can whine about yourself as the product, or you can position yourself differently. The re-positioning takes work some people don't want to do, or are too proud to think that they'd even have to try to do. It's easier to complain sometimes. Doesn't solve your unemployment situation, but whining is the repose of those who are stuck in the complaining mode. Gotta break out of it, and get beyond it. It's mis-spent energy.

Some musical artists built successful careers singing the blues and being the sounding board. Singing the blues on a board like this is mis-spent energy. Only you can choose to change your world.

I was not the one bullied, but as a manager I could not stop it either without HR help, and that help came late and only after I lost few good employees.

Wow. Now there's some insight. You were never bullied and you are dwelling on it, on the other hand I was once bullied for years, did something about it, moved on and refused to dwell on it. There's a lesson in there for someone somewhere, no doubt.

Bully bosses and employees are there, they are not just a modern invention attached to the bad economy.

They'll be there in good economies and bad.

Absolutely, I agree that as a consultant you are not exposed to bullies, but it is a mistake to believe that they do not exist....