Nine ways to handle a boardroom bully: forceful personalities on the board can steer an organization down a destructive path. Here's how to take on that 'bad boy' or 'bad girl'.

• Author: Chinoy, Toni Lynn
• Position: BOARD DYNAMICS

IS YOUR BOARD being held hostage by a bully? Is the will of one person, or even a small group, dominating the decision making?

It is not surprising that bullying in the boardroom is an issue facing many boards. The stakes are high and the individuals are accustomed to wielding power. Those who become victims of a boardroom bully are often well trained in "correct" behavior and have difficulty responding appropriately to a practiced bully.

There are compelling reasons to address the issues raised by strong and forceful personalities who often steer an organization down the wrong path. As a board member, you cannot afford to be held accountable for bad decisions simply because you did not confront and manage the energy of a willful and controlling personality.

Clearly, one response to the boardroom bully is to formally examine and adjust your governance. Unfortunately, establishing more current and forceful governance rules to deal with the problem is unlikely to be enough. A determined bully is not usually stopped by structure. The bully often finds a way around structure, or will ignore it altogether. Trying to stop a bully by increasing the structure is like trying to prepare for a Category 5 hurricane by boarding up the windows.

If individuals have been behaving badly, it is not because there are no rules to keep them from doing so. It is more likely that they have found over time that the rules do not apply to them and that they can do whatever they want to do because they are who they are. Bad, controlling, abusive people generally continue to be bad, no matter what rules are in place.

Bullies tend to make decisions that reflect their lack of respect for the rules. This is dangerous for the organization as well as for other board members.

How did it get this far?

Why do they get away with it? On balance, the other board members are usually commanding people in their own right who were sought for the board because of their power.

There are many reasons tough personalities are "allowed" to take an organization down destructive paths. Often they are the ranking board members and others are reticent to take them on because it might seem disrespectful to do so.

Sometimes there is the perception that any questioning of the bully's right to rule will end in a difficult and fruitless confrontation. The bully's colleagues will often determine that little progress will be made and, as a result, choose not to initiate the confrontation.

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