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We've all had them.  Horrible bosses.  Some, more than once. But a new study says that one thing researchers find again and again is that 50 to 70 percent of workers identify the worst part of their job as their immediate supervisor, according to newswise.com. “There are so many ways to be bad,” says Dr. Peter Harms, who studies this. “I’m exploring why people are bad—do they think they’re doing the right thing because they don’t know the right thing or are they really trying to hurt people? I’m studying not only what they do, but why they do it.” The problem, inevitably, starts by being the leader—at the helm or in a higher position to influence and intimidate those below. “Leaders have huge amounts of autonomy at a business,” says Harms, hitting on one problem area. “For instance, they can call you a name and you can’t retaliate. They can give you bad schedules, a bad sales district, take away privileges or even fire you. You rarely have the opportunity to do...

As anyone who's been bullied can tell you, they can still see that kid's face from 5th grade and remember his name long after they've graduated from college. Now a new study finds that not just the memory -- but the damage, too -- can remain long after you never see that person again. According to Mary Bowerman at USA Today, the study " shows harmful effects can extend decades after the initial bullying. Researchers found those bullied in childhood had lower levels of education, greater physical and cognitive health problems, and poor social functioning throughout their lives, compared to those who were not bullied." For five decades, she reports,  The National Child Development Study followed almost 8,000 participants of children born in England, Scotland and Wales. "In 1958, they assessed children ages 7-11 and found 28% of the participants were occasionally bullied and 15% were frequently bullied. The researchers checked in with the participants at...

I don't know which way you lean, but just about anyone can see the ass NJ Gov. Chris Christie is making of himself.  Don't know whether Bridgegate is true (I think it is), but some say his very narcissism  -- though it's sure hurting him now -- is also what's made him a great leader, according to newswise.com. And here's the upshot: " Though narcissists were more likely to attain leadership positions, there was no direct relationship between narcissism and leaders' success." Researchers reviewed existing literature and aggregated past and current research to come up with the answer. "Our findings are pretty clear that the answer to the question as to whether narcissism is good or bad is that it is neither. It's best in moderation," said Emily Grijalva of the University of Illinois, the lead author of the study, at newswise.com. "With too little, a leader can be viewed as insecure or hesitant, but if you're too high on narci...

It was one of the first things I worried about when my son started middle school. Skinny and shy and quiet at the time, and a bit of a computer nerd, I feared he would be bullied. To my delight (and surprise), he became a different kid in middle school – out-going, happy, and “chatty,” as one teacher put it.  Even what some would call popular.  Popular?  My kid? He was one of the first sixth graders to have a girlfriend (but young love, being what it is, she broke up with him over the summer). Maybe I’ve been lucky because I have a boy and from what I’ve seen and heard, bullying seems to be hugely rampant among girls (although we did have the heartbreaking story of Bart Palosz the second day of school). Two 12-year-olds have been arrested for tormenting a girl who ended her life in Miami recently, and in Stamford , one has been arrested for bullying another girl into talking about committing suicide. Twelve-year-olds? What is this? Are kids...

I just don’t get it.  How can you miss that a kid’s suicidal? But then I think of all the things that I don’t – or can’t – see as a parent, even when it’s staring me in the eye. Of course, my heart breaks for the parents and sister of Bartlomiej “Bart” Palosz.  But it breaks even more for Bart. Bullying is said to be a factor in this tragic death.  I think of the darkness this poor young man must have lived in, the shadow limiting his life.  Maybe he put on a brave front.  Maybe, like my son, he pretended all was well when it wasn’t. Didn’t anybody see this boy’s pain? I didn’t know Bart but I feel his death in my heart, maybe because my own son is only three years younger, and I so wish I could have been his friend. I want time to go backwards, for someone to have reached out to Bart in a class or at lunch, to have shown him he was loved and wanted and worth something. I, too, have struggled with depression and though I’ve never co...

First, it was obesity .  Now it's bullying .  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has just announced that bullying is a public health problem.  I guess it still counts if it happens in your family , too. Sadly, the CDC has proposed this because of its link to suicide, according to Howard Mandel. Mandel writes that the suggestion has been made that "educators and health care professionals should consider broadening their focus beyond just providing services for those who are already involved in bullying or suicide-related behaviors, but also towards developing strategies to prevent bullying and suicidal behavior from happening in the first place." Makes sense to me.  I remember when I was in school back in the '60s and '70s, bullying went on and no one pretty much talked about it.  Kids being shaken down for their lunch money.  Being ridiculed because their teeth stuck out, or wore glasses (me).  I even had a friend with cerebral palsy who had a...