How do you survive the office bully? In many workplaces, some version of this creature exists. This article is a brief "how-to" on dealing with, and potentially removing office bullies from the workplace. Before we can deal with an office bully, it is paramount that we define an office bully.

An office bully, for the purposes of this article, is an individual that uses, manipulates, or abuses other workers for their own personal gain. Office bullies are commonly people that will take credit for your ideas and actions, while making sure that you are seen as an inferior worker. Office bullies can constantly interfere with your work. This version of an office bully is probably more like a panacea of all types of office bullies, rather than an exact match to your office bully. So how do you defend against this mutant?

First off, you must pull rank! That's right; you must mark your territory. This doesn't mean be a jerk, nor does it mean do anything unethical or emotional. This is about asserting your true and real position in the company. If a bully tries to tell you want to do, and they have no power over you in the company, here is a simple sentence that will send his/her blood boiling: "Thank you for your advice, and if I get time to try this a different way I will let you know how it worked out."

This is marking your territory in the simplest way. Though the sentence looks benign, to someone that revels in crossing company boundaries, this comment can set off a firestorm! You are simply telling them that they don't belong on your side of the fence, no matter how loudly they bark. I have seen this comment lead to a meltdown before and caused the bully to be terminated. The key is to be nice while asserting true dominance. The same is also true about your work. Stand by your work and always outline who was involved. Give credit where credit is due, and never let a bully push his/her way into taking the project or presenting it. Draw a line in the sand, and if that doesn't work, fill the trench you dug into the sand with gas and light it on fire!

Another fun one is to request clarification of your role and the bully's role from your supervisor. This pits the real alpha dog against the pretender to the throne. Meet with your supervisor, and go over the things that you know step over the boundaries of that person's job. Ask for clarification as to if this individual is your superior or not. After all, you are only asking this because you want to do

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