Mobbing is ...

Mobbing involves a progressive attack on a target, which may initially be instigated by one or two individuals. Then the assault on the individual develops by bringing other people to support the denigration of the person. This will include the organisation's management which collaborates, actively or through lack of action, to have the target evicted, via a process of ostracisation, lies, rumour mongering and so on.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with workplace mobbing, I will explain this in detail in a later blog. I am currently reading an excellent book: Overcoming Mobbing: A Recovery Guide for Workplace Aggression and Bullying, by Duffy, M. & Sperry, L. (2013) which I highly recommend.

I have become aware that the mobbing of Founder/Charity Leaders is not uncommon and sadly I know of another Charity Founder/CEO who also had a stress-related seizure because of the treatment she was subjected to by the Charity's Board of Trustees. It appears that these violent psychological attacks by non-profit organisations are swept under the carpet probably, as in my case, using a policy of silence, combined with the absence of an adequate structure of accountability.  Alternatively their attacks are presented as an issue of "Founders Syndrome" whereby the Founder is used as a scapegoat for the dysfunction of the management team. I will share an excellent article which discusses the issue of Founder Syndrome in the later blog.

Meanwhile, I'd like to share some quotes regarding workplace bullying in the not-profit-sector, and have provided the relevant links to the full articles.

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"Workplace bullying in nonprofit organizations is far more prevalent than one might believe. We tend to think they’re organized by good people to advance a cause or perform a service for the community. All it takes is one or two motivated board members to ruin somebody’s career. For one thing, nonprofit executives tend to be women and board members tend to be men. What’s more non-profit boards face nearly no accountability. There are no owners, partners, or stock holders. And there is very little government oversight. Add in employer-centric employment laws, board members have de facto double “0″ status.  Those one or two motivated enemies on the board of directors can destroy an employee with impunity." - http://www.nblsc.org/workplace-bullying-in-nonprofit-organizations/

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"Board bullying,” as I call it, is one of the largely unexplored aspects of workplace bullying. I do not know how frequent it is, and I have not yet found any research literature on the topic. (Readers, if you know of any studies, please share in the comments!) And yet I know it is real. I suspect it is more prevalent in the non-profit sector than in the business sector, but that impression may be unduly influenced by the fact that I’ve spent much of my career and volunteer service in non-profit organizations." - http://newworkplace.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/when-the-bullying-comes-from-a-board-member/