Case Study

The Bully at the Table

Last week I received a call from Steve (not his real name), a senior executive at a Boston area corporation, looking for help with a serious problem. One of his direct reports, let's call her "Joan", was causing serious conflict among his management team to the point where team members were coming to him with complaints on an almost daily basis. One of them, Steve's top performer, was even threatening to move to another group. In addition, several of Joan's subordinates were actively seeking new positions.

Labeled a "bully" by peers and subordinates alike, Joan frequently lost her temper, often criticizing others in public forums, and cutting people off in meetings. Despite several frank discussions with Joan about her behavior, Steve had to admit the situation was not improving. Yet, he was reluctant to dismiss or reassign her because she brought a significant amount of highly valued technical expertise to the team.

After speaking with both Steve and Joan at length, I suggested that Joan take the Index for Emotional Intelligence (IEI) and work with me as her coach for an initial period of six months. The IEI is a 360 degree assessment that provides feedback on an individual's level of emotional intelligence.

Through the IEI process, Joan received feedback from her boss, peers, subordinates and others in addition to the data from her own self-assessment. This information gave her a detailed view of how her behavior was perceived by people from all levels in the organization, and enabled her to compare her own perceptions to those of others. (Managers, vendors, customers, or others familiar with the participant can also be included in the survey process.)

Upon seeing the assessment results in black and white, Joan could no longer deny there was a problem. The data enabled her to gain perspective on her behavior and recognize the negative impact she was having on morale and the organization's ability to successfully achieve its goals. The details of the report allowed her to break down the behaviors that were derailing her into manageable, actionable pieces. These results gave focus to our coaching relationship, enabling us to target problem areas.

Over the next four months, Joan learned new skills that allow her to build effective, collaborative relationships. Now, Joan listens to others respectfully, incorporating their ideas into her plans and proposals. She doesn't raise her voice anymore, or get overly emotional. She is able to express her own opinions in a way that facilitates understanding and cooperation. She shares more of herself and demonstrates more interest in others.

The result? Joan is building working relationships with both peers and subordinates based on trust and mutual respect. Her confidence is increasing as she is producing vastly improved business results. Staff members and other employees are still coming to Steve – but now they are commenting that working with Joan is like having a new boss and colleague. Turnover has declined. In fact, several people have asked to be moved onto her team!

If you have an employee who could benefit from an EI assessment and coaching, contact CBL Associates so we can discuss your particular situation with you.