Bosses From Hell: Workplace Bullies In The Non-Profit Sector
But in the eleventh paragraph of reporter Todd Wallack’s well-executed scoop, I suddenly got it: “Staff members have long complained that Berlowitz micromanages their work and that she dishes out frequent tongue-lashings. Some workers left after only a few days or weeks.”
Uh oh. One of those, likely outed by a suffering staffer. We wrote back in 2010 about workplace bullies as health threats, especially in health care. Turns out, non-profits have their share — perhaps more than their share — of bullying bosses.
http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2013/06/berlowitz-workplace-bull
WHERE DO MEMBERS OF A NON-PROFIT GO TO COMPLAIN WHEN AN UNQUALIFIED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR IS SEETHING WITH ENVY?
GREAT ARTICLE IN ONLINE PUBLICATION ABOUT ALASKA NON PROFITS:
AND...What about "Board Bullying" - when a President of a board is a bully - and has her own show and is jealous of members "beneath" her contempt?
Even if there is no formal definition for a board bully, the behavior is apparent. When a director threatens, intimidates, and controls someone, it is bullying. Some bullies use rules to control discussion. Others completely ignore rules and disrupt discussion. They almost always try to use their position to justify their behavior. They will even believe that they know best and are only trying to rectify a problem. Bullies are aggressive, immature, and find any way they can to manipulate others, and even if they are right, bullying is not appropriate.
In most cases bullies have an agenda. They want it their way or no way. Many seem to revel in their "rogue" behavior. Unfortunately, when I have mentioned board bullies to nonprofit executives and directors, most immediately have a story, or two, or three, or more to share.
http://www.forakergroup.org/index.cfm/Resources/President%27s-Letter/Board-and-Staff-Balance
Francis R. Pilleri, Jr. was the quintessential "board bully" who would keep no meeting minutes at Medford Community Cablevision, Inc, would counteract legitimate votes by a full quorum with a sick method: when board members left Pilleri - allegedly - reconvened and counteracted what was voted on WITHOUT a quorum. By keeping no meeting minutes, Pilleri got away with it. The Attorney General's office only is aware thanks to the hard work and honest efforts of this publication and multiple "public records requests" which put the information front and center.
One government official in Winchester informed me that he didn't even know WinCAM had been sued until my public records request brought it to his attention.
This is the GREAT work we do to fight the bullies. Another bully was removed off of a board of directors at another non-profit - I believe it was "St. Francis" (or maybe that's a euphemism - :) ) when she was disruptive, bitter and bullying people non-stop. She even had on her Twitter account "causing trouble since..." which is about as much of an admission as a David Gauthier letter threatening members with harassment if they don't stop reporting violations of the rules.
That, Mr. Gauthier, is being a bully, and mark my words, we have been most effective at removing the bullies from their unwarranted "positions of authority."
Sex talk on high school property by someone in a teaching position, and Gauthier turning a blind eye on the activity and harassing the whistle blower.
Twisted - and now the police and the other authorities in Winchester are fully aware of Gauthier's misconduct and failure to address the problem.
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Bully! The Scourge of Nonprofit Boards, and What to Do About It (Melodie A. Wing, Peter Pongratz and Allan J. Eyden of Winchester Community Access and Media take note)
How to handle the nonprofit board ogre.
Here are three common forms of nonprofit board bully, and what to do about them:
The Martinet Bully: Often a man, and often the board chair.
(In the case of Winchester Community Access and Media the bully is a hard, angry woman - Melodie A. Wing, who makes Fidel Castro look like a saint!)
He (She) is determined to import the standards of the business world to the nonprofit sector whether they’re applicable or not. His methods involve an exaggerated concern for efficiency: meetings start early, whether or not people are there, and discussion is foreshortened with a remark such as, “We’ve got the report—let’s just vote.” In the short term, the ED should gently say, “I’m not sure everyone’s been heard from yet.” In the medium term, give the martinet a project he can handle by himself which will keep him out of others’ way. In the long term, find someone else willing to serve as board chair who will practice for that position by deliberately sticking a spoke in the current chair’s wheel (LINDA, MARGO - THAT MEANS A SPOKE IN MELODIE WING'S WHEEL) when he (SHE) starts running over the rest of the group.
(Yeah, but when the E.D. like David Gauthier is unqualified, a sycophant and suck-up, then the entire non-profit goes down the drain. This opinion is backed up by e mails from both Gauthier and Wing - editor)
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/bully_the_scourge_of_nonprofit_boards_and_what_to_do_about_it/
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