26 February 2010

COMMENTARY - Who is Gordon Brown? Is he a Bully? What darkness lies behind Gordon Brown's aggressive personality?

Gabby Logan

Gabby Logan freely admits she had a 'meltdown' when she turned up too late to board the Eurostar in Paris

Gabby Logan freely admits she had a 'meltdown' when she turned up too late to board the Eurostar in Paris and was escorted from the station after being caught trying to crawl under the barrier.

A new book sensationally claims Gordon Brown pushed around people in his office and stabbed the back of a cream car seat repeatedly with a black pen while an official cowered next to him.

Unrepentant, the Prime Minister declares: 'I'm not perfect - but I know where I come from and what I stand for.'

Gordon insists he's angry with himself, not others, but the impression remains that this big bruiser is frightening to be around when he erupts.

Another difference between Gabby and Gordon: she fessed up to her strop on her blog, made a joke and said sorry.

For Gordon to admit having a temper would be construed as a sign of weakness - he now sees himself as the victim of a hostile media.

If he behaved so appallingly, why didn't any of those on the receiving end speak out? In my long experience, this kind of volatile behaviour is pretty common, and when male bosses lose their temper, they usually get away with it.

I've been an executive and I've been a boss. When I was in charge and lost my temper, I was called 'crazy' by my critics. When men behave in this fashion, they're described as 'forceful' or 'opinionated'.

When I dared to sack or criticise anyone, I was berated as erratic. When a man does the same, we say he's 'decisive'. Anger in the work place is all about double standards, as I know only too well.

Once, my boss at the Beeb was so annoyed at my failure to get a comedy star to appear in a show that he went beetroot, screamed his head off, smashed a pencil through a thick notepad and threw everything on his desk on to the floor.

I thought he was having a fit and wondered if I should call for medical help. Two minutes later, his pallor returned to normal and he resumed our conversation as if nothing had happened. I left the room, shaking. The incident was never referred to again.

See Westminster Parliament MPs erupt over Question Time when Gordon Brown is questioned on Workplace Bullying, in 6th May 2009.

Also below some more of Brown's Best Bits, also see Bullying Question asked at 2:10 mins

Gordon Brown

A new book claims Mr Brown pushed around people in his office and stabbed the back of a cream car seat with a black pen while an official cowered next to him

When I told someone else, I discovered they had experienced a similar strop. We didn't report this man for bullying, but accepted it as part of the high-pressure world in which we worked.

Gordon's temper tantrums are replicated in offices all over Britain. Lots of us will have the misfortune to sit through the frightening experience of a boss in meltdown. Why do we put up with it?

One reason is that we accept anger in men far more readily than in women. Female bosses who lose their temper are seen as less competent, according to a study by Yale University.

It concluded that angry men will earn a higher salary, get a better job and be more successful than bad-tempered women. And female workers are more tolerant of men who behave badly than they are of women. Anger remains a male privilege.

If men apologise for losing their temper, it works against them - research shows we don't rate their chance of succeeding so highly afterwards. But if women apologise, then it can actually help them.

That might explain why Gordon Brown is not going to admit very much. I admit I've been guilty of Brown-style swearing and cussing in the workplace - maybe I've just worked with too many men. But I haven't stooped to ranting and raging in a taxi in front of witnesses.

Isn't there something rather worrying about the revelation that our Prime Minister gets into his official car and spends the journey smashing his fist into the back of the seat in front or defacing it with a pen when he's in a strop?

That sounds like a toddler who can't get his way, not someone who's supposed to be leading us back into the black and out of recession.

Disraeli said 'a person's fate is their own temper'

We shall see if it's true for Mr Brown.

source

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