 Today's blog in the #BeTheRippleBlogs series is a piece from Cherie White on the topic of bullies. Cherie and I have never met in person and connected as a result of the #BeTheRipple movement. She is an anti-bullying activist, blogger and author. She has a vision of speaking publicly and helping people who are hurting to overcome their pain and achieve peace and happiness. You can find Cherie on LinkedIn: Here. Over to Cherie: Why Bullies Hate Anyone Who is Smart Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash Short Answer 1: An intelligent person is a threat to the bullies’ power. Long answer 1: A smart person can see through the bully’s façade and tricks. The wise person can pinpoint the bully’s motives with complete accuracy. You see? Bullies work hard to keep up appearances, and anyone who has even the slightest chance of exposing them is fair game. Realize the bullies fear exposure because it would mean losing respect. Short Answer 2: Bullies can’t stand being outshined or outdone- in anything! This can happen at school or in the workplace. In the workplace, adult bullies bully employees who are star performers with extremely likable personalities. Long Answer 2: Anyone with good sense more than likely has talents and gifts which bullies do not have. Understand that bullies bully because they’re no good at anything else. For example: Susan in the school choir and has been singing since she was eighteen months old. Coming from parents who are also musically talented, she has a talent that comes naturally. The choir director sees this from day one and gives her solos to sing during choir concerts. Being honored, Susan gives it her all and received loud cheers from the audience and compliments from different people afterward. However, this also makes Susan an even bigger target for the bullies, and the bullying escalates exponentially the very next day and for the next several weeks. Anytime Susan receives any positive recognition, she watches her classmates’ faces contort and knows what’s coming next. Susan also witnesses them bullying people who make good grades. Understand that bullies are jealous of smart and talented people. They can’t handle being outdone by anyone at anything. As a result, they always turn up the harassment and do their level best to kill any confidence the target has in their own abilities.  Example 2: Sandra is the top performer at her job and has just received an award as recognition for her being at the top of her department for the last six months. The next day, Sandra senses a chill in the relationships with her boss and coworkers. Next, they begin to mob Sandra and sabotage her work. Her boss, Elsa begins to criticize her every move, withhold vital information and exclude her from meetings. I write this not to brag or complain, but to share knowledge with others about how bullies operate so they’ll have the tools to protect their self-esteem- tools that I didn’t have all those years ago. Thank you so much to Cherie for sharing this piece.
If you are not yet a member of the #BeTheRipple community, we would love you to join us. You can find us on Twitter: @BeTheRipple2020 and/or in our LinkedIn community: Here Thank you once again to Cherie for sharing this piece, a reminder that often individuals are bullied purely because they are talented or have high performance, it is not something that only happens to people who are perceived as being quiet or 'weak' in some way. If you have been impacted by bullying or harassment of any kind, you speak to someone you can trust, or get some professional advice externally. You do not have to put up with people treating you unfairly or unkindly, at work or in any other setting. You can find expert guidance at the following links: https://bulliesout.com/need-support/employees/ https://www.acas.org.uk/if-youre-treated-unfairly-at-work/being-bullied https://www.gov.uk/workplace-bullying-and-harassment https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/harassment/factsheet#15763 https://www.supportline.org.uk/problems/bullying-in-the-workplace/ https://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/employees.html If you would like to submit a blog for this series, please send your work via email to: hello@joannasuvarna.co.uk. Stay safe Jo
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