When I get up in the morning, my goal for The People Group is to help organizations create work cultures where employees feel safe to be productive, innovative, healthy and profitable. The good news: there is no lack of potential clients who need help. The bad news: our nation is filled with company cultures mired in political infighting with out-of-control, jerk bosses and uncivilized behavior where employees leave the office each day anxious, depressed and beaten down.

There is no question in my mind why the family unit is in danger, and the health of the American worker is likely at its worst in recent history.

Why am I so passionate about the creation of great workplaces?  Why do I consistently admonish business owners and executives to treat employees with trust and respect? It is related to my unfortunate encounter with a sadistic, cruel and bully boss who routinely yelled, screamed, cursed and threw temper tantrums. When he didn’t get his way, or I expressed opinions that upset his tiny world view, he would go ballistic. He was like an evil two-year-old baby inside a fifty-year-old body.

This workplace psychopath was also known for heavy consumption of alcohol, and would regularly drunk dial employees at home to ferociously complain about their latest manufactured failure.

Unfortunately, without knowledge and information about workplace bully behavior, I allowed the son of Satan to affect me personally, which ultimately resulted in detrimental costs to my health. At the time, I didn’t realize targets of bullies are typically bright, successful and well-respected individuals.  I thought there must have been something wrong with me to be treated in this manner. Sadness, darkness and pain eventually took over my life and caused unbelievable torture.  The mental anguish eventually led to a number of physical conditions that were costly to me personally and financially.

So, back to my question of why I am so passionate about the topic of work culture and creating great workplaces.  No one should be subjected to the hurt and shame of a workplace psychopath. I do not want anyone to experience what I experienced.  Workplace bullies should not be allowed to continue their goal of destroying their subordinates and coworkers.  Rather than focusing on organizational success, bullies focus on personal survival by torturing their fellow employees.  This reasoning only makes sense if you are a psychopath.

How do you know a bully boss has crossed the line?  How do you determine the jerk is simply having a bad day or is a certified bully?

The following list of injurious behaviors, called “The Dirty Dozen” and published by the McKinsey Quarterly, will help you identify enemies in your midst.

The Dirty Dozen

1. Personal insults
2. Invading coworker’s personal territory
3. Uninvited physical contact
4. Threats and intimidation, verbal and nonverbal
5. Sarcastic jokes and teasing used as insult delivery systems
6. Withering e-mails
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate victims
8. Public shaming or status degradation rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they were invisible

It is perplexing why women who are beaten by their husbands return to their abuser.  It seems the best solution for the wife would be to leave the toxic environment and find a place of safety, especially if children are involved.  It is my understanding abused women linger in the relationship due to low self-esteem, self-blame and depression.  The quality of life outside the abusive home is a big question mark and the fear can be paralyzing.  In addition, the abuser can be a charming con-artist who fools the outside world that he would never be abusive.

Employees in abusive employment situations are not that different.  A psychologically abused employee will question the quality of life outside their toxic work environment.  Will work-life be better somewhere else?  Maybe it is my fault the boss berates me in front of my coworkers, thinks the confused employee. It is hard to imagine life outside of their current company.  Mortgage payments and bills continue to arrive and force us to work in unmanageable situations.

Furthermore, we are not a nation of quitters. The act of quitting will not be found in the latest motivational best seller or seminar. Leaving a toxic boss and work culture, on the other hand, may be exactly what you need to do when the odds are stacked against you.

Learning this important career lesson was difficult. It is not in my nature to quit.  My inclination is to hang on and try to reverse a bad workplace situation. Helping organizations dissolve toxic environments is encoded in my DNA.  Working for or dealing with workplace bullies, overly aggressive Type A’s, passive aggressive Type B’s, brutal alpha males and females, corporate assholes and outright jerks has had a sadistic hold on me.  Even in the midst of misery I seek to solve problems.

Accept my advice: It does not pay to be Dr. Phil at work.

An abused spouse cannot reform their partner.  Targets of workplace psychopaths will not reform their perpetrator.  Don’t get sucked in and feel sorry for the abusive boss and all their mental or emotional problems. Traumatic Bonding and Stockholm Syndrome are very real issues.

According to Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov, Traumatic Bonding, also known as Stockholm Syndrome, may be defined as the development of strong emotional ties between two persons, with one person intermittently harassing, beating, threatening, abusing or intimidating the other.

When the perpetrator is your boss, pay close attention to the detrimental affects on your life. Staying in your position can cause severe health and family issues.  Look at your options.  There are companies that have Great Workplace Initiatives who have fired all their jerks and abusers.  There is a better place to earn a living and live your life.

Knowing when to quit is an important strategy if you find yourself in a toxic work environment or abusive employment situation.

Now read “Twelve Signs You Work for a Toxic (Bully) Boss” by Dr. Gary Namie

There is an erroneous business idea that one must be edgy, short-tempered and tough to get things done. Here’s a news flash for those who have operated under this paradigm; jerks are out – nice people are in. Toxic workplaces are out – great places to work are in.

For a business to enjoy long-term financial success, leaders and employees must restrict their inner evil desire to beat people down in order to lift their egos up. Long-term success is derived from treating people kindly and respectfully. Work with others the way in which you want to be treated. We have known this truth since grade school but some difficult personality types have suppressed this right way to live and work.

I won’t return to a hotel where the staff is rude. Although I usually stay at a hotel for only one or two nights, I will not go back if one employee is rude to me. Yes, one employee!

A restaurant can have the best food in the city but if their employees are edgy or rude, I won’t go back. I don’t need the aggravation.

We avoid cranky people in the service business. How about when you are looking for an employer? When you are interviewing, researching and selecting a new employer, you may work for the company ten years! You want to know if that place is filled with friendly or angry people, don’t you?

In the very near future, it will be common for employees to avoid companies whose leaders and/or staff are rude. Toxic work environments will be measured and reported online. The dirty secrets that companies used to conceal will soon become public knowledge.

The work climate is changing in a positive manner because great workplaces are part of a healthy workplace component. Employee productivity is directly tied to environmental factors, including the toxicity of the culture. In the near future, jerks will find themselves out of business or unemployed.

Before going on vacation, my wife researches hotels and resorts by utilizing www.tripadvisor.com. This valuable site rates a destination’s hotels, from best to worst. The site provides actual guest photos and comments. The site has saved us from bad properties a number of times. It prevents us from selecting the wrong hotel. In many cases, TripAdvisor.com has helped us select the best hotel.

Similarly, in the distant future, job applicants will likely be granted access to a website that rates employers from best to worst. Why? The best employers need a place where their excellent qualities can be showcased. Companies who employ bullies and tyrants need to be made public so the best people don’t take positions in toxic work environments.

This will be a win-win situation. Great workplaces will win by showcasing the actual work experience of their employees. Employees will win by having the tools to prevent a job change to a toxic work environment.