"Bully In Sight"

I used to say that all one needed to get through life was a library card (this was in the days before the internet was ever invented, so we are talking A Long Time Ago). I was pretty confident that if I needed to know how to deal with a situation, or to understand something I was struggling with, that someone, somewhere, would have written a book about it and I just had to locate this resource and I would be ok.

Google has replaced the library - and in fact libraries themselves seem to be rapidly heading towards extinction, as most of the ones round our way are rebranding themselves as "learning centres".

But the principle still applies....

When things were getting really bad last year at work - I mean "really bad" as in: I couldn't sleep, I felt continually baffled, and I started suffering from chronic anxiety - I started googling "Workplace Bullying". And amongst a lot of helpful and insightful material, I came across several mentions of a book called "Bully In Sight" by Tim Field.

Getting hold of it was slightly complicated, as it is not available in bookshops and each order has to be specially printed. But - oh my goodness, it was the best £15 I have spent in a long LONG time.

There is something horribly shaming to be a competent, professional adult in the workplace who suddenly becomes the target of bullies. Which is why, I guess, that most people in the situation I found myself in eventually decide to leave their jobs rather than undergo the agony of confrontation and challenge. Perhaps I should have joined their numbers - except that at the time I still really loved my job.

But being bullied at work - subjected to a daily barrage of petty spite, incessant rumour-mongering, and gleefully pointed ostracisms in a place where I had for many years felt happy and safe - was horrendous. So I am very grateful to Tim Field for writing his book and helping me to understand:

- I was not the only adult unlucky enough to experience this treatment in the workplace
- My distressed reaction to it was normal; not weird, psychotic or strange
- There were some strategies I could adopt to try and tackle the bullying...
- ....but they came with very high risks attached.

I certainly don't blame Tim Field (God rest his soul, for he died some years ago) or his book for the fact that things worked out so badly for me. I belive they would have worked out far worse if I had not, in so many instances, been forewarned about how other people - particularly The Hierarchy - were likely to respond.

Yes, I felt disappointed.
Yes, I felt disenchanted.
Yes, I felt totally and utterly disillusioned.

But - thanks to Tim Field - I never felt in the slightest bit surprised.