6 Tips to Survive Workplace Bullying
I am a survivor of workplace bullying. It has been 11 years since my bully boss created a living hell for me during the summer of 2009. Unfortunately, I lacked information and training on how to handle this adult bully at work. I endured extreme mental anguish; depression; sadness; and confusion on who I was as a professional working in this job. I remember the huge weight of humiliation that hung over my shoulders. It was the most difficult and painful time for me to be working there.
Ten years later, I presented a workshop titled, “Being in the Arena: Learning to Rise Again” in the first Summit titled, Redefine Yourself, a series of workshops to heal survivors like myself. Here are six tips for informational purposes only on how you can survive workplace bullying:
- Feel the raw emotions of anger, sadness, anxiety, and shame. Lean into them and take deep breaths. Meditate.
2. Make an appointment to see a therapist to explore these difficult and painful feelings and emotions.
3. Stop Blaming. Admit to what has happened and start to grieve. The losses of either losing your job and/or coming to terms that something has terribly gone wrong is now the new “normal.”
4. Explore your new passions/strengths and opportunities. You may need to go back to school or acquire new training to get a new job either in your career or in a new profession. You will be OK and enlightened to enter a “ new door of opportunity” that lies in the horizon.
5. Become a Social Justice Advocate. Network with current survivors through social media to learn what you can do to get a law passed in your state. Tell your story to your legislators with heart and emotion.
6. Engage in personal self-care while you heal and find a new job.
I learned that my obstacles were “my teachable moments” that led me to a new birth and greener pasture in my life.
