---

Guest post by: Jane Francis Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

Do you allow yourself to be belittled or bullied? Professional bullies will expect favors and demand that work is done unreasonably quicker, better, cheaper: “I don’t care; just do it.”

Bullies will take precedence over all your time and may even demand exclusivity—but beware—they don’t want you to succeed on your own; they need you.

Bullies are usually good at “reading” people and “pushing their buttons.” They use techniques like leaving things to the last minute to block escape routes, and dangle carrots that won’t be delivered, and often use “weasel words” (words like “virtually,” “almost,” and “possibly”) as out clauses. They rely on a network of higher authorities—lawyers, accountants, politicians, and the like—but will avoid putting anything in writing.

Bullies look for clues when recruiting their “team.” For example: At the end of a job well done, have you ever belittled your efforts by saying, “Oh, it was nothing, really,” or “Anyone could have done it”? Don’t do that—as insignificant as those statements may seem—a bully will notice!
Here’s another example: You’ve just told your client (or boss) that the job they want done will take you two days. She responds by looking surprised and saying, “But it only took Sue one day.” You take two days, but only charge for one—bullies like it when you do that.

The most effective way to address bullying in schools is to empower the victim. While it’s not the victim’s fault (that’s got very little to do with it), in the long run the best strategy is to teach the victim how to disempower the bully. In just the same way, you need to learn techniques to enable you to restore the balance of power—or develop your bully “antennae” and leave these customers for someone else to deal with.

Related Articles

  What is the best way to develop my sales skills?
  Profitable Online Business Ideas and the Recession Part 2
  Contribution
  How can you make more of your customers open your emails?
  Know your magic numbers
  Social Networking or Social Distraction
  Which Social Media Tool?
  More crazy customers!
  Hacking Facebook Password with the help of free hacker tools for everyone
  Get better results from email newsletters and promotional emails
  How do I find a passionate and purposeful mentor?
  Can you afford to make your email marketing more targeted? Can you afford not to?
  Are you a Star?
  Spam: You probably hate it but can you define it?
  Online Business and Freedom in America
  Bullies At Work
  How to generate referrals
  Bullying and Boundaries
  No Passion , No Business
  Are you Hard, Scrambled or Soft?

Related Forum Posts

Re: How to Promote Your Blog – The Definitive Guide to Promoting
Re: Due Diligence, Market Research.. Ahead of the curve.
Re: Who hates cold calling?
Re: Businesswomen in the news
Re: How to Promote Your Blog – The Definitive Guide to Promoting

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

SBA Guarantee Fee Explained

Doing Customer Service Right!

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.