Tranquil Leadership

Three steps to end Upward Bullying

Have you ever experienced an employee trying to gain power over you? Manipulate you, and other people in your team? Undermine you? Refuse to follow instructions? Spread rumours? Gather a group to back them against you? Turn your managers or board against you? Threaten you? Leave you feeling unsafe and ready to quit your leadership role?

Upward Bullying occurs when employees engage in negative behaviours towards their managers, and it’s characterised by the subordinate gaining perceived power over their leader. Upward Bullying is under recognised and insidious. It slowly gets worse, starting with small red flags and escalating into dangerous behaviour.

Upward bullying is often not conducted by a single individual but rather through a group or “mob” that may not even realise they are being manipulated. This collective approach can make it particularly challenging for managers to address. The post-pandemic world has further highlighted issues of upward bullying, especially with changes in work dynamics like remote or hybrid work changing how employees and managers interact.

In this book, Upward Bullying expert Maureen Kyne shares the three steps to end Upward Bullying:

Awareness: how to identify the behaviours that are indicative of upward bullying.

Assessment: how to validate and be sure that the situation is bullying and needs to be addressed

Action: the practical ways you can handle upward bullying before it escalates.

If you follow these three steps, you will be empowered to step out of chaos and into calm as a Tranquil Leader.

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About the author

Maureen Kyne

Upward Bullying Expert | Industrial Relations Leader

Speaker| Author | Executive Coach

Maureen Kyne helps Leaders and Organisations to create Tranquil Leadership.

With over 30 years experience Maureen Kyne is a leading authority in workplace bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination. With qualifications and a career spanning nursing, manufacturing, construction, transport, HR, IR & WHS she brings wide-ranging experiences.

Maureen works with CEO’s and Executive teams who are faced with the following challenges:

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Have people who bring “old school behaviour” to work – and leave people feeling disrespected, harassed or bullied

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Are promoting new leaders but they are quitting or “failing” because the people they lead target them with disrespectful, bullying behaviour

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Have a team that walks on eggshells around certain people, and are visibly uncomfortable

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Have had a few “near misses” with complaints that nearly went to Fairwork or WorkCover

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Have tried to change the approach to training on bullying and harassment but feel like it’s falling on deaf ears

Maureen delivers programs Australia wide, in both regional towns and capital cities; she understands the economic and workplace pressures faced across diverse environments from harvesting sheds in farming communities to metropolitan corporate boardrooms.

Her clients include: Bega Cheese, Unilever Australasia, LGPro, Uniting Care, Hungry Jacks, Melbourne University, Macedon Shire Council, Gannawaara Shire Council, Cobram District Health, Australian Window Assoc., Kyabram District Health.

Download our Global Research Report into Upward Bullying