Fear Based Task Managers - Bullies All Grown Up in the Workplace

Watch my short video explaining Fear Based Task Managers HERE.
Watch a short video explaining the negative outcome left by my previous Fear Based Task Manger HERE.

The Dangers of Fear Based Task Managers

The last 18 months of my career were so full of abuse from my former manager and the Sales Performance Manager that I lost 20 lbs on my 120 lb frame, had no appetite, I lost interest in being around family and friends, worked until midnight every night trying to stay up to date on all of the menial tasks required (Fear Based Task Managers micromanage every detail; it is the only way they know how to control), and was sleeping till 3pm on the weekends then working the rest of the evening Saturday and Sunday.
I became so scared and full of fear once it became clear that they were targeting me in an attempt to terminate and silence me, the abuse pushed me into a place of shock.  I lost my peripheral vision on the way to work one morning which turned into me losing my ability to speak or recall any co-workers names in the meeting I was leading (some of which I had known for 15 year); I was rushed to the emergency room. 

After 8 hours of tests I was told that what I had experienced was identical to a stroke; my body had gone into shock from the escalated bullying.  I learned more after researching, and this article was helpful in understanding it more fully. 

When my manager and Sales Performance Manager were finally successful in terminating me, I was heavily pressured to sign a 13-page silence agreement which would have paid me 100k if I signed.  This silence agreement/bribe required me to remain silent about the treatment of women and minorities as well as unethical sales pressure.  I was so beat down and brainwashed at that point that in the moment it was offered to me, the only thought I had was “thank you”. I was thankful that I was being offered money to live on while I found another job following my carefully planned termination.  I actually said “thank you” out loud when they offered it to me. 

This is what abuse does; it wears down the abused to the point that they no longer defend themselves and have forgotten they have rights.  And in many cases they have been made to feel that they have none (check out dozens of testimonies from women and minorities who have experienced the same abuse at the same Fortune 500 Company I worked at for 21 years on my blog in the “Testimonies” section).

After a few days of recovery from the shock of my 21 year career down the drain, my entire being knew without a doubt that I could not sign the silence agreement no matter how much money was offered as a bribe for my silence and cooperation.  The fear of supporting myself financially was far outweighed by the fear of what would happen to those that had been in my care.

I refused to sign in order to help the minority women they were targeting, and to bring awareness to the toxic environment and unethical sales pressure at this company, and others like it.

I had spent the last several years refusing to terminate the women and minorities I was being pressured to terminate.  I had put together presentations with facts and data as well as process improvements outlining a better and proven way to manage people and improve performance that didn’t involve bullying, threats, or termination. The plan was based on my current team’s success as well as the last 15 years of success using these tactics in other areas of the company.  The bullying became even worse.

I was silenced with intimidation, threats, isolation and eventually I was written up for not responding to an email quick enough (first time I had ever been written up in my 21 year career).  They had begun building a case for my termination.

Within months of my termination and refusing the cash bribe offered for my silence, my manager was placed back into his previous position as Sales Performance Manager and relocated to Arizona.  In just over 18 months, despite all the terminations, write ups, threats and intimidation tactics used, he was not able to improve the sales performance of his territory which included all of Oregon and parts of Washington.  His Fear Based Task Manager tactics failed and he was shuffled to another territory.

What Happens When Fear Based Task Managers Are Placed in Positions of Power

I have received letters from people who worked for my previous manager prior to him being promoted to his position as Regional Executive in 2018, as well as people who are working under him now.  Though he is no longer officially managing people, his Sales Performance Manager position largely influences the territory managers he works with (Market Leaders, my former position) which equates to hundreds of people.

One Financial Center Manager who was bullied by the current Sales Performance Manager (who’s territory is Oregon and parts of Washington) shared in her testimony that the level of abuse he subjected her and her team to pushed one of her employees into a high risk pregnancy from the stress.  Read this and other similar testimonies from women in the “Testimony” section.
How could two people who cause so much turmoil and chaos, ruin the careers of so many, target women and minorities, and still be allowed to influence the careers and lives of hundreds of others? 

In a pervious blog post I share how this is a common practice within large companies (read about the “Truffle Shuffle” HERE). 
You can read an example of this HERE, which explains how this happened with the current Sales Performance Leader who partnered with my old manager to target people they wanted to terminate, and unethically pressured credit card sales in an attempt to improve their ranking (both the Sales Performance Manager as well as my manager were equally ranked based on the performance of my manager’s territory spanning Oregon and parts of Washington).
This Sales Performance Manager over Oregon and parts of Washington, who had previously been in a manager position over 30 Financial Centers, had been moved into a non-manager position with no direct reports due to (as it was shared with me) the level of concern regarding his treatment of those that reported to him in his previous management role.  Instead of moving him into a position that had no influence over people, he was moved into a position that gave him even more power and influence over even more people.  I call this the Truffle Shuffle and you can read about this HERE.

Getting Away With It : The Truffle Shuffle

Today, one year after my manager was moved out of the Regional Executive position responsible for hundreds of people’s careers (many of which were ruined with unfounded terminations) in Oregon and parts of Washington, he is now in a position of equal influence in Arizona as a Sales Performance Manager, once again.

This week a Financial Center Manager reached out to me from Nevada (the state that my previous manager worked in as a Sales Performance Manager prior to being promoted to Regional Executive over Oregon and Parts of Washington.  Here is what the Financial Center Manager shared; “Bravo to you Heather! The gentleman you refer worked in Nevada prior to moving to your area. There was a group of men we referred to as the Good Old Boys club! They would literally sit in meetings texting each other and laughing when Financial Center Managers’ said something they didn't agree with. They were toxic. They have now scattered about or have left the company but their mentality is still prevalent.”  The gentleman (my previous manager) she refers to is listed in my publicly filed lawsuit which can be found online.

How Does This Happen

About six months after my manager was hired as Regional Executive in 2018, it was incredibly clear that his Fear Based Task Manager tactics (read more about Fear Based Task Managers vs. People Focused Leaders in my newsletter HERE) were focused primarily on terminating people whom he and the Sales Performance Manager did not like personally.  When the sales performance of his territory continued to be ranked last in the country with no improvement since he was hired, he and the Sales Performance Manager began using manipulation tactics as well as unethical sales pressure to force improvement (read more about this in the “Blog” section and view the daily emails our sales associates and managers were required to send us daily specific to credit card sales pressure HERE).
At this point I reached out to the executives who had interviewed and hired him (people I had known and worked with for 10-15 years) and asked them what had they seen in him that made them feel he was going to be a good leader.  I was told that he came across extremely confident, had memorized the statistics and data of the territory which they found to be impressive, and had what sounded like a strong plan to improve the sales performance.  This plan centered around identifying people to terminate.  (watch a 5 minute video explaining this HERE)

Hiring Fear Based Task Managers into positions of power is incredibly common.  Just as common is shuffling them around when their fear-based tactics begin to be escalated by those they oversee.  Instead of making it clear that the company does not tolerate these types of behaviors, the Fear Based Task Manager is instead moved to another position (read about this in the blog article titled “Truffle Shuffle”). And those who have escalated the abuse are silenced with intimidation, threats, or even termination (read dozens of testimonies to this effect in the section “Testimonies”).

Go Way, Way Back In Time…to Bully Land

Think back to your school days; high school, middle school, grade school and kindergarten.  Now picture the school bully or bullies.  If you weren’t bullied yourself you heard about or witnessed bullying, or have seen movies depicting bullies. Now think about the qualities of that bully or bullies; how did they get away with their bullying? 
Bullies use their confident and imposing demeanor whether it be imposing physical presence, pointing out someone’s “flaws” to control others, or intimidating children they identify as “weak” through aggressive tactics and using threats to get what they want.  Their incredible confidence causes most children to keep their distance; avoiding coming to the aid of the person or people being bullied to avoid being a target themselves.  Their imposing and confident demeanor even keeps children from telling anyone about the bullying or asking for help.
Many times they have an “entourage” of at least 1 or 2 other followers that tag along with them which makes them even more scary and intimidating.
What do they want?  Besides stealing your lunch or lunch money, bullies want to feel powerful, idolized, and strong.  They do this by preying on people they feel are weak.

Now fast forward 10, 20, 30, 40 years to today.  That bully is now in the workforce.  Do you know who they are?  Is it your manager?  The CEO?  The head of Human Resources? Did you hire that bully as a leader? Are they in a position of power?
The bully is now interviewing for a position of power over others.  Rather than look at the position of power as an opportunity to help others succeed, they look at it as an opportunity to wield the power and control stick to promote their own agenda.  Just like in school.

So how and why do bullies get placed in positions of power and control?  They caused so much harm when they were younger, why are we enabling them further and giving them even more opportunities to hurt others?
Because that school yard bully’s confidence has only gotten stronger, and it is the best asset they have when looking to impress.  They rely heavily on their confidence and self-serving mindset to woo the interviewer with stories of their greatness and promises of a grand outcome.  They use their ability to regurgitate data and facts to paint a picture of intelligence which is mistaken for competent leadership.
The interviewer is so impressed by the show before them that they forget about any other viable candidate who possessed less confidence.  They mistake confidence for true People Focused Leadership. 

We see this in corporations, politics, and in the home; bullies being given a podium of power and control that they use to further their own agenda. It is extremely common to see school yard bullies become managers or supervisors once they get into the workforce. You can read more about this in greater detail HERE.

Flip the Switch

So how do we stop this perpetuating cycle of abuse?
In the workplace, it starts with the interviewer.  The interviewer has full responsibility in determining if the person before them is a Fear Based Task Manager or a People Focused Leader by asking the right questions and watching/listening for cues and clues from the interviewee.  This is a skill that can be taught.  Watch me explain this in a 5 minute video HERE.

Besides all of the lives a Fear Based Task Manager negatively impacts, the families they negatively impact, or the careers they jeopardize or end completely, Fear Based Task Managers cost companies millions of dollars in turn over, hiring and training, potential lawsuits, and silence agreement payoffs/bribes.  This can all be avoided by identifying People Focused Leaders during the interview rather than letting a Fear Based Task Manager impress with their confidence and data regurgitation.
Pulling and reading reports can be taught.  Company policies and history can be taught. 
What cannot be taught is the innate ability to motivate and lead people or the Service to Others mindset that People Focused Leaders have.

What Does a Fear Based Task Manager Look Like

Fear Based Task Managers micromanage menial tasks; they feel that the more they can control and manipulate, the greater their own success.
This is because a Fear Based Task Manager doesn’t know how to relate to or engage the greatest assets a company has; the individual and unique talents of each associate.  Because the Fear Based Task Manager cares solely about their own success, they view management through the lens of; “I know best, therefore I will manipulate and force others into doing what I want in order to control the outcome.”
A Fear Based Task Manager makes demands using fear tactics, intimidation, and threats.  They believe they know better and can do the job better than anyone else; their way or the highway.

Conversely, a People Focused Leader knows that each person in their care has unique strengths and talents and that when leveraged through positive reinforcement and motivation, creates a team exponentially stronger and more successful than any team controlled with fear and pressure.

Changing the Culture

One of the primary reasons I founded Superpower Consulting is to help companies and corporations avoid the mistake of putting more Fear Based Task Managers in positions of power, and begin putting more People Focused Leaders in place.
In my 21 year career creating and building some of the most successful teams in the company, I found that many hiring managers lack the skillset needed to identify what type of person is in front of them in an interview; a Fear Based Task Manger or a People Focused Leader. 
Once that person is hired and placed in a position of power, they are virtually left alone to manage as they seem fit.  There is no trial period, and there is no one monitoring their management tactics. 
If enough complaints are formally filed with Human Resources regarding their bullying, intimidation, threats, or inappropriate behavior, the Truffle Shuffle begins and those escalating concerns are silenced.

This can all be avoided up front!  Learn how to identify People Focused Leaders and begin the culture change right away.
If you fear you have a Fear Based Task Manager wreaking havoc in your company, you have options.  Options that allow you to keep your greatest assets, improve morale, and improve the performance of your company.

Learn more about the services Superpower Consulting offer HERE.
Reach out by email: superpowerconsulting@gmail.com