Confronting Bullies in the Workplace and Mediation with Bill Eddy and Michael Lomax
In the second episode of the World of Bullies series, Bill and Megan welcome Michael Lomax to explore bullying in the workplace and mediation. As co-founders of the High Conflict Institute and an esteemed speaker, respectively, they share their expertise on handling high conflict personalities in professional settings.
Bill and Michael emphasize the importance of managers thoroughly investigating bullying allegations and understanding the key characteristics of bullies, such as a lack of self-restraint, empathy, and remorse. They also discuss how bullies use emotional tactics to manipulate their targets and recruit negative advocates. Michael shares his experience meeting with alleged bullies who often present themselves as victims.
Questions we answer in this episode:
- What are the key characteristics of a workplace bully?
- How can managers effectively respond to bullying allegations?
- How can mediators handle high conflict personalities in mediation?
Key Takeaways:
- Managers should approach bullying allegations with a healthy skepticism and thoroughly investigate complaints.
- Bullies often lack self-restraint, empathy, and remorse, and may recruit negative advocates to help target their victims.
- Mediators can effectively handle high conflict personalities by remaining calm, setting boundaries, and focusing on realistic objectives.
This episode provides valuable insights and strategies for navigating bullying in the workplace and mediation, equipping listeners with the tools needed to create a healthier work environment.
Links & Other Notes
Note: We are not diagnosing anyone in our discussions, merely discussing patterns of behavior.
- (00:00) - Welcome to It's All Your Fault
- (00:41) - World of Bullies #2: Bullying in the Workplace and in Mediation
- (01:22) - Michael Lomax's Background
- (03:58) - Bullies in the Workplace
- (23:07) - Bullies in Mediation
- (39:43) - Reminders & Coming Next Week: Bullies in Families
What is It’s All Your Fault: High Conflict People?
Hosted by Bill Eddy, LCSW, Esq. and Megan Hunter, MBA, It’s All Your Fault! High Conflict People explores the five types of people who can ruin your life—people with high conflict personalities and how they weave themselves into our lives in romance, at work, next door, at school, places of worship, and just about everywhere, causing chaos, exhaustion, and dread for everyone else.
They are the most difficult of difficult people — some would say they’re toxic. Without them, tv shows, movies, and the news would be boring, but who wants to live that way in your own life!
Have you ever wanted to know what drives them to act this way?
In the It’s All Your Fault podcast, we’ll take you behind the scenes to understand what’s happening in the brain and illuminates why we pick HCPs as life partners, why we hire them, and how we can handle interactions and relationships with them. We break down everything you ever wanted to know about people with the 5 high conflict personality types: narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial/sociopath, and paranoid.
And we’ll give you tips on how to spot them and how to deal with them.