Workplace dynamics can be tricky, especially when the boss thinks their physical size equals authority. But one woman wasn’t having any of it, and her response to her boss’ attempts at bullying her has been hailed as legendary.
In a viral Reddit post shared on Thursday under the username u/JessyGlow, a colleague of the woman said that, during a team meeting, their boss, a 6 feet, 4 inches tall man, who loves reminding people about his size, decided to grill an employee for a mistake that she didn’t even commit, putting up a show in front of the entire team.
But instead of shrinking back and letting him have it, the woman kept calm and shut the act down with one simple phrase.
“He kept raising his voice and getting all aggressive and she just … looked at him, completely calm, and goes: ‘you’re not intimidating, you’re just tall and loud,'” the poster wrote.
Watching this unfold, her colleagues couldn’t help but admire the way she handled herself and the situation.
“Dead silence. then someone coughed. then the boss just muttered something and moved on. Never brought it up again. Honestly legend behavior. She still works here. She drinks her tea like nothing happened. I aspire,” the poster added.
While the poster’s colleague didn’t allow her boss’ status, or his size, to intimidate her, many Americans do feel uncomfortable standing up to their managers.
A study commissioned by human resource company Bambee found that around 6 in 10 Americans feel too intimidated to go to their boss with an issue.
Another recent survey from learning platform Preply shows that many American workers aren’t big fans of their managers’ communication styles. About 37 percent of respondents said their boss was blunt; 26 percent replied critical; and 26 percent said sarcastic.
Moreover, 15 percent of respondents said their manager was aggressive, while 12 percent replied that their boss was demeaning.
The post quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 73,000 upvotes and almost 1,000 comments on the platform, with people applauding her for standing her ground.
One user, IcedHemp77, commented: “My a** would have been the one who laughed out loud because I tend to laugh when awkward or nervous moment happen.”
AcrobaticProgram4752 said: “Boss isn’t supposed to be intimidating. Boss supposed to lead and manage their workers to work well together and feel they are valued so they want to do their best knowing they want to perform well because they respect the Boss because they’re good to those who help them do a good job. Respect is a better motivation than quiet disdain.”
Confident_Babe33 added: “And yet, I constantly encounter arrogant, bullying, incompetent ‘leaders’ who can’t manage their stress or take accountability for their mistakes.”
Source – https://www.newsweek.com/internet-cant-cope-coworkers-response-aggressive-boss-2065562