"Poor communication skills can
condemn you to a life of mediocrity and
frustration. Good communication skills
can unlock your dreams of success."
Dr. Robert A. Tracz

Dictator Dick

Unethical, unscrupulous, unrelenting – that pretty well sums up Dick. Winning isn’t enough, he has to beat you into submissiveness and will use your fears and terrorist tactics to do so. He is ruthless and intimidating and actually seems to enjoy making you miserable.

Dick will delete, distort and disguise facts, disregard others, control who’s in the know and demean and blame others to achieve his ends,

Jennifer, a friend of mine, was to get a promotion. She was competent and assertive. She was supportive of her boss but would challenge him when she disagreed with him. Her dictator-like boss refused her a promotion on the grounds she was insubordinate and hired a less qualified person to fill the position Jennifer was to have. As it turned out the new person was a yes person ultimately giving into to the demands of her superior. This is typical behavior of a dictator - to hire someone who is submissive and, in their opinion, inferior to them.

These are angry, resentful people that don’t like to be shown up by others or to be surrounded by people more competent than themselves. Appealing to their sense of right and wrong, their feelings, and their better judgment aren’t effective. There is little you can do if you work for or with a dictator. Try the following:

In other words say what you have to say but think about when, how and where you say it very carefully. Finesse it by adapting to his style and by demonstrating your understanding of his situation.

Fog your responses by agreeing in principle and to truths in their statements.