Bullying behavior is generally aggressive and hurtful.

For those that practice this techique it is a way to reinforce superiority and can certainly be an effective way to get things done, but care is advised.

Caution does need to be applied particularly if your behaviour is too aggressive and too frequent , you can get a bad reputation or even experience negative consequences.

On occassion, the results you reap can come back to bite you.  Consider the example of Martin Winterkorn , former CEO of Volkswagen who has been accused of openly berating employees.  This behavior has been linked to the recent scandal the company  has experienced, as one of the contributing factors.

Working effectively with Aggressive Behavior

As hard as it is to do, poking the bully, in the nicest possible way, is often the best approach.  That is, standing up for yourself.  Typically this is hard to do in the short term but over the long term its an effective technique to waylay bully’s in the workplace.

The best and most effective alternate to this approach is to leave.  Basically a polite statement about not appreciating the abuse and just leaving.

The biggest problem with these approaches of course is the organizational power structure.  When you are lower in an organizational heirarchy there is a tendency to just accept the aggressive feedback as if there is no choice.

Of course potential consequences contribute to this acceptance as well.

Easy Advice to Give

When you are not the target,  it is easy to suggest fighting back (in a gentle and non violent way) but if in the long run this recommendation can   not resolve an issue,  the only other good alternative is to exit.  The road most often chosen.