Petty people get their kicks from making others cry

Two things have crossed my radar recently.

The first was an on-line article (msn.com? I really don't recall) about fear in the workplace. There was a description of a fear-dominated workplace, where people are afraid to express their hones opinions, afraid to offer suggetions, even afraid to speak with any openess to their co-workers for fear that their good ideas would be stolen and their gripes would be reported to the higher-ups. One of the points I totally focused on was about how information is diseminated in a fear-oriented workplace. It re-inforced a point I realized in my career: knowledge is power. Some managers believe that knowledge shared is power diminished, others believe that knowledge shared is knowledge enhanced via feed-back. I worked under managers in both camps. I have to admit, I prefered the knowledge-shared, fear-diminished workplace.

The second was a booklet about trust and communication in the workplace. It made a LOT of points that I wish I had been aware of when I was working. A HUGE facet of trust IS communication. They gave examples of meetings where everyone walked out feeling (very justifiably) that they understood their role in the situation when NONE of them knew what they were expected to do. For example-- your boss walks by your office and says; "We're having a problem with X" Does that mean that YOU are expected to resolve the problem? Does that mean that you will not receive what you need from X when you need it and need to go with an alternative plan? Is X about to be replaced by Y? Clearly, a huge part of trust IS communication.

I wish I had read these two items 25 years ago, when I encountered my first truely bad manager.

Now, I can look back and say: I wish I had spoken up in an appropriate manner. I didn't speak up. I thought that if I spoke up, things would become even worse. Maybe they would have. However, if I had know HOW to make my points, maybe some managers might have realized what they were doing was not right.

Oh, yes, my title of this post? Petty people do not just exist in the workplace. They exist in social situations as well. People who have NEVER been important take joy (or at least satisfaction) in tormenting people in social situations as well.