The Bullying Business

Prince William seems to have thrown himself into National Stand Up To Bullying Day (sic), "warning that unrelenting torment isn't just confined to the playground".  It's an odd one, isn't it?  Aside from places like prison or street-life in various unsalubrious neighbourhoods where the threat of physical violence is real, or in sordid workplaces where the threat of instant loss of livelihood is a serious prospect, how could grown adults be susceptible to bullying?  Well they are, and it's a striking phenomenon.

I suffered very little from bullying at school: we were a rugby-playing outfit, and everyone knew that however big a 16-year old would-be tyrant thought he was, there were any number of First-XV prefects who could mallet him effortlessly if he overstepped the mark.  Being beasted at Sandhurst was tough, but never personal.  It came as a shock, therefore, to find myself suffering under a bully in my first regimental posting: it was the CO, a petty tyrant whom I rapidly learned to avoid.  (It was because he was thick, had never been to university or Staff College, knew he was never going any higher, and had a mile-wide inferiority complex.)  I learned just how easily heavy-duty brow-beating comes to a certain type of overbearing individual, and how effective it can be even with people who are not of a particularly nervous disposition, and who'd ordinarily reckon to be able to fend for themselves without difficulty.

Having come under the thumb of this bastard, I vowed there and then never again to succumb.  One knows perfectly well that in most everyday environments there is absolutely no prospect of physical violence; and while you can perhaps be threatened with the sack etc, in reality it's almost always just bluster, however genuinely unpleasant.

This resolution has served me just fine, in the military and as a civvy: indeed the issue never seemed to arise again.  That was until in business I ran into a well-known commmercial negotiator from another oil company, we'll call him Jim (because it's just possible he hasn't succumbed to the ulcers he was obviously due).  His reputation went before him - "nobody ever stands up to Jim" - but somehow our paths hadn't crossed: until one day in a new job I found myself across the table from him.  Our two companies had a minor commercial tiff and Jim, contemptuous of the efforts of his underlings in the dispute, had decided to take the matter into his own hands.  I invited them to our offices, and there they were, six of them under Jim's glowering leadership.

Only Jim spoke (the rest - all grown adults, of course, lawyers and negotiators alike - looked utterly in thrall to him).  He started softly:  there must, he presumed, have been a fundamental misunderstanding on my part, obviously I was new etc etc; but I had thwarted him which was completely unacceptable.  He was here to have me reverse my position on the spot, publicly.  I politely demurred:  the exchange of correspondence between us that I had on the table in front of me clearly supported chapter-and-verse my position, which I proposed to maintain.

He raised his voice, his face blackened, and I could see his people sinking into their chairs.  Those who dared to flash a glance in my direction were clearly imploring me to concede in my own best interests.  He thumped the table, told me my company had once been good to do business with but was now beyond the pale; that it was entirely my fault; and that he would be taking the matter directly to my CEO.

I stood up and told him I was leaving, but that he and his crew were welcome to continue using the conference room if they wished.  I said that the CEO's office was on the second floor, if he'd like to call in afterwards; and bad them good afternoon.

Needless to say, a couple of days later a written apology arrived in the post; the misunderstanding was his & he hoped we could move forward etc etc.  And so we did.

But Jim generally prevailed, and made a lot of mileage for his company and himself using the bullying tactic elsewhere, before and since.  When one reads about the behaviour of the Fred Goodwins ("he manufactured fear") and the Bernie Madoffs ("people were afraid of Bernie"), one is in no doubt that they rose to great pinnacles in their respective callings by the same means.

Bullying adults?  It's real, right enough.

ND

Triumph of Horlick Over Experience

One of the reasons this blog exists (aside from the opinionated proclivities of its scribes) is the lousy job the MSM business correspondents do, with only a very few honourable exceptions.  In particular, it's the uncritical way they swallow press-releases - and of course lunch - allied to the need to keep advertisers sweet.  And we would certainly never fall for that, dear me no.

Might we somehow expect the Grauniad also to be a bit different ?**  As we turn to the Saturday money pages to make an assessment, who is this smiling enigmatically out of a 1-foot square, full-colour photo-spread but Nicola Horlick!

Next month, City "superwoman" Nicola Horlick (right) will ... launch a peer-to-peer website called Money & Co. Like many of the new sites it will allow people to lend money to small and medium-sized enterprises and enjoy returns which she estimates could initially average 8% gross ... the mother of six, whose business ventures already encompass the worlds of investment, movies and restaurants, told Guardian Money that out of all the things she has done in her career, "this is one of the most exciting.  I would expect us to be one of the winners … Our system is built to be global." 

Ah yes.  This would be the same Horlick whose superwoman powers and all-round creative financial genius saw her entrusting previous clients' money to Bernie Madoff.   Not sure what that tells us about her 'estimates' and 'expectations' ...

Still, I expect the new press pack was beautifully presented, and she bought the hungry hacks some very nice lunch.

ND  

** only joking, of course - see this from 6 years ago

Madoff - Could it happen in the UK?

Madoff, a name few on this side of the Atlantic will have heard of until the last few days. For those who have not read this amazing story; effectively a top wall street firm has been found out to be a Ponzi scheme. $50 billion has been lost to investors, and maybe much more as the investigation is only just starting.

Mr Madoff contributed a lot to politicians and even was an adviser to the SEC, the US regulators. Over the weekend, the victims are being announced. Many already stricken banks and hedge funds who will now face possible disaster in the coming week. Santander has said its clients have lost $3.1 billion. Bramdean, run by high profile city slicker, Nicola Horlick, has lost hundreds of millions and the share price will no doubt be pummelled further tomorrow.

The story is amazing and another sign of the height's to which Wall Street excess had been allowed to reach. Madoff's company had been on the SEC list for a check, but they had not round to it.

So could it happen in the UK? The answer is yes. There are many similarities here with Northern Rock. A business with a flawed model, totally unable to operate in a market. The staff all working hard not knowing the true crisis at the business. The Finance Director resigned and nothing was done. The auditors ticked all the boxes, the FSA looked on without taking any real action.

Yes, the FSA regulator has sacked the staff and tightened up its act now. But how much more could come out in the future? The reviews they do are on a 3 yearly basis. Hopefully nothing on the scale of Madoff will come out here, but the world has turned up some pretty strange stuff in recent months.