If you have ever worked outside the company, even if you are not a full-time employee, you have actually encountered or seen power harassment.
Being subjected to power harassment can be really painful. Even if you are not physically hurt, you suffer mental injury. And those mental blows are hard to recognize. By the time you realize it, it is often too late because you are covered in scars.
Preventing power harassment is as difficult as preventing bullying. This is because it relies heavily on the power relationship between individuals on an impersonal level.
And, in many cases, this power relationship is already determined when one joins a group.
There is a boss who is good at his job, a leader among his peers, or someone who is a bully to the core. In a group, there is always a natural correlation of power centered around such a person.
And when the relationship with such a central figure becomes strained, it is likely to trigger power harassment (bullying).
What starts out as a casual reprimand, a mounting remark, a prank, or a tease gradually escalates. The more the recipient tolerates it, the worse the content and the degree of the harassment. Eventually, it becomes the norm in the group, and the others become accustomed to it.
Once, when I was working at a certain job, I was subjected to severe power harassment by my immediate supervisor. I may have been at fault, but looking back on it now, it was clearly power harassment (often noticed later).
Thanks to this, I became mildly depressed, and when I couldn’t stand it any longer, I talked to that boss’s supervisor about it, but it didn’t improve at all. On the contrary, when the power harasser found out about it, he started to reverse power harass the boss of the supervisor whom he had talked to.
The supervisor above him turned a blind eye to the situation, and his colleagues around him sympathized behind his back, but instead of offering their opinions in front of him, they simply laughed and followed suit.
At that time, I was completely alone in the section. I remember thinking to myself, “In a group, when you are in a situation like this, there will never be anyone who will stand up for you. It may have been around this time that I began to dislike anything with the name “group” in it.
I received advice from third parties that I should get a medical certificate and take a leave of absence, or that I should consult an outside resolution organization, as well as books on how to cope with the situation, but such advice was unheard when my thought process was completely frozen by the power harassment, and it was difficult to even follow the words.
I was just too scared to think about how to avoid triggering the power harassment by the supervisor, and instead of listening for his/her attention every day, I was just scared to look at him every second.
In the end, the boss above me forced me to change sections, which took about a year to resolve, but the psychological damage was so severe that it took me three years to fully heal.
From that experience, I have come to believe that there is honestly not much that can be done to avoid some degree of power harassment or bullying once you belong to a certain group.
The only thing you can do is to sniff out such an environment in advance, stay away from it as much as possible, and get out of it as soon as possible even if you enter.
If you do enter such an environment, and if you feel any signs of power harassment, I dare say that you should fight without hesitation. The only way to deal with both bullying and power harassment is to nip it in the bud at the beginning. In other words, the initial response is important.
Of course, you may say that if you could do such a thing, you would have no trouble, but anyway, if you come in contact with someone who is bullying or mounting you, even if you later become friends with them for some reason, you will never change your underlying feelings. If the situation changes, they will definitely show it in their words and actions at some point.
So what should you do when you actually see the first signs of this in their eyes or in their words or actions?
It may sound like a silly way to deal with it, but if it is a classmate, say, “Don’t be lickety-split,” or if it is your boss, argue with him or her on good grounds. If it is your boss, you should argue with him or her with proper grounds. If he or she is backed by some kind of power, you should confront him or her with a power that can counter his or her power (or make it a big deal by involving a higher power).
After all, you have no choice but to fight them head-on.
Unless a person who is susceptible to power harassment learns the importance of this first move (cunning), he or she is likely to become a target no matter where he or she goes. This is because they are probably a serious and gentle person.
Bullying and power harassment. The most troublesome thing is when you are dealing with someone who comes at you without being aware of it. It is natural to think of revenge (including suicide and violence) when you are driven into a corner and can’t help yourself.
And although imagining it makes you feel better in a sense, it results in the most barren time of your life, so I don’t recommend it (from my own experience).
See you soon.
