When bosses bully, everyone pays. Here’s what we’re not saying out loud.
“Silence in response to poor treatment is not neutral — it’s permission.” – Lisa Merlo-booth
Accountability is dying. And we are watching it happen in real time.
Between the “Manosphere,” Adolescence, influencers, government, and world leaders, accountability is becoming extinct. On the most extreme end, boats can be blown up, foreign leaders can be instantly killed, and wars can be started on a whim — with little pushback and almost zero accountability.
Sadly, this is as true in homes and workplaces as it is in the world at large.
Regarding the workplace, here are some sobering statistics. Perhaps you relate?
- More than 48 million Americans have been bullied at work.
- 65% of those who bully workers are supervisors or managers — in other words: bosses.
- About 62% of bullied employees end up losing their jobs, compared to only 27% of
- bullies who face any negative consequences. In most cases, the bullying only ends when the target leaves.
Take that in: The person doing the harm keeps their job. The person being harmed loses theirs.
This is the crisis. This is the lack of accountability on steroids.
The fact that 65% of those who bully are bosses isn’t a staffing problem. It’s a power problem.
When leadership bullies their employees, they create a culture of bullying. The entire work environment becomes fertile ground for toxic interactions, low morale, and unsafe working conditions. Bullying bosses –– no matter how talented, knowledgeable, or skilled –– are toxic, full stop. And the entire company takes the hit.
The higher up the bullying boss is, the less likely the bullying is going to stop — and the more likely there will be little to no accountability for the toxic behavior. And if the owner happens to be the bully, the chances are even slimmer. Unless there is a massive reckoning — serious loss of revenue, media damage, legal exposure — you can forget accountability. That company is a breeding ground for toxicity.
Regarding bullying in the workplace more broadly: only 12% of victims report the behavior to a supervisor, with 37% staying silent out of fear of retaliation and 28% believing nothing will be done. Holding a boss accountable for poor treatment is even more difficult — and far less likely.
Here’s the problem with a lack of accountability in the workplace, or anyplace for that matter:
Silence in response to poor treatment is not neutral — it’s permission.
Over time, accepted behaviors form the culture on your team and in your workplace. When leaders are the ones engaging in them and no one holds them accountable, good people leave. Loyalty dissolves. Morale disintegrates. Companies bleed money, ignore the source of the bleeding, demand more from their employees — and then wonder why no one stays.
Until owners and companies dare to recognize the damage that unaddressed bullying takes on their workplace and their bottom line, more and more companies will struggle. Until leadership prioritizes Uncompromising Safety™ — physically, emotionally, psychologically — in the workplace and on their teams, staff retention, loyalty, and desired revenue will remain out of reach.
Challenge: When leadership across all facets of the world — business, media, government — exhibits the same abusive behaviors with no accountability, it is inevitable that the world will take on those same traits, with the same lack of accountability. Pay attention to what harmful behaviors you have normalized from the world — and the impact of that acceptance in your workplace.
What have you gotten used to? What have you stopped naming? Because the moment you stopped calling it out, you became part of the culture you’re standing in.
