Serial bully types
Attention-Seeker---Wannabe---Guru---Sociopath The profile above covers the most commonly-reported behaviours of serial bullies. From casework I've been able to identify four primary types of serial bully: The Attention-Seeker Motivation: to be the centre of attention Mindset: control freak, manipulation, narcissism Malice: medium to high; when held accountable, very high •
emotionally immature
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selectively friendly - is sickly sweet to some people, rude and offhand to others, and ignores the rest
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is cold and aggressive towards anyone who sees them for what they really are or exposes their strategies for gaining attention
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overfriendly with their new target, especially in the initial stages of a new working relationship
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overhelpful, ditto
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overgenerous, ditto
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manipulative of people's perceptions, but in an amateur and childish manner
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manipulative with guilt, ditto
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sycophantic, fawning, toadying
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uses flattery to keep a person in authority on side
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everything is a drama, usually a poor-me drama
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prefers not to solve problems in own life so that they can be used and re-used for gaining sympathy and attention
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capitalises on issues and uses them as a soapbox for gaining attention
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exploits others' suffering and grief as a vehicle for gaining attention
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misappropriates others' statements, eg anything which can be misconstrued as politically incorrect, for control and attention-seeking
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excusitis, makes excuses for everything
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shows a lot of indignation, especially when challenged
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lots of self-pity
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often as miserable as sin, apart from carefully constructed moments of charm when in the act of deceiving
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demanding of others
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easily provoked
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feigns victimhood when held accountable, usually by bursting into tears or claiming they're the one being bullied and harassed
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presents as a false victim when outwitted
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may feign exclusion, isolation or persecution
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malicious
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constantly tries and will do almost anything to be in the spotlight
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includes Munchausen Syndrome
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the focus of their life is to be the centre of attention
The Wannabe Motivation: craves respect for being competent and professional despite lacking in competence and professionalism Mindset: deceptive Malice: low to medium; when held accountable, medium to high •
similar to the attention-seeker
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is one of life's chronic underperformers and is best described as ineffectual in everything
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craves undeserved respect and attention and will go to considerable lengths to acquire them
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hangs around the fringes of a profession
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not professionally qualified but claims they are a professional because they sit next to a professional or work alongside or near or in the midst of professionals, or provide services to professionals
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lacks the ability, competence and professionalism to be a qualified professional
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wants so much to be seen as competent professional person but is unable and unwilling to put in the work to achieve this
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is unable and unwilling to apply knowledge gained from experience but instead devotes time and effort to improving skills of deception, manipulation, false claim, denial and projection
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may have been rejected by their chosen profession for lack of competence
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is spiteful towards and despises anyone who is qualified in the profession from which the bully has been excluded by virtue of lack of competence
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is likely to be vilifying the profession they want to belong to or which they're claiming to be part of or which they are claiming to represent
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displays a deep-seated envy and jealousy of the professionals that he or she works alongside or claims to serve
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harbours a bitter resentment, grudge, distaste and contempt for the professionals that he or she works alongside or claims to serve
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is likely to be criticising, condemning, disadvantaging and causing detriment to the professionals he or she works alongside or claims to serve
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may seek positions of power over the professionals he or she works alongside or claims to serve, perhaps to facilitate a compulsion to criticise, condemn, disadvantage and cause detriment
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is irresistibly drawn to organisations, roles and positions which offer the wannabe power and control over the professionals s/he despises (eg inspection regimes, approval roles, regulatory bodies, ticksheet compliance schemes, political correctness police, trade union official, etc) - and is often described as a talentless jobsworth
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when in a position of power associates with and makes alliances with or surrounds him or herself with clones, drones, minions, fellow wannabes, sycophants and brown-nosers
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instinctively objects to any suggestion of change, reform, improvement, progress or evolution, but has no viable or positive alternatives of their own
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opposes every idea, suggestion, opinion, contribution or reform on principle but has no original, positive, constructive ideas or contributions of his or her own
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is likely to plagiarise and steal others' ideas which are then put forward as their own
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may place undue emphasis or reliance on an old, minor or irrelevant qualification to bolster their claim of belonging to or deserving to belong to a profession
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may claim ambiguous or misleading or bogus or fraudulent qualifications, associations and experience
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displays a superior sense of entitlement because they associate with or serve higher performers
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emotionally immature
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controlling
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easily provoked
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when challenged is adept at rewriting history to portray themselves as competent, professional and successful, regardless of multiple witnesses and overwhelming evidence to the contrary
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quickly and loudly feigns victimhood when exposed and held accountable, often repeatedly and loudly accusing the person holding them accountable of being a bully
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when held accountable makes conflicting and contradictory threats and demands (eg demands apology but orders the other person not to communicate with them)
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when held accountable makes lots of loud but empty threats (eg of legal action such as libel, slander, defamation etc)
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only carries out threats of legal action when in the presence of a superior serial
bully, especially a sociopath type •
may indulge their jealousy and envy of professionals or those they claim to serve by pursuing vindictive vendettas, sometimes with the help of a superior serial bully, especially a sociopath type
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is easily manipulated and controlled by a superior serial bully
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female wannabes may be arch bullies (some people might call them puppetmasters or queen bees)
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may surround herself with drones of the opposite sex
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may exploit some perceived vulnerability in self to ensure drone loyalty
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gives the appearance of loyalty to drones but will discard them when they've served their purpose
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is likely to have affairs to gain power, status or position
Author Tim Fields credit givin with much respect