In this episode, Dr. Jan Kircher examines what really happens when you confront a workplace bully — and why direct, face-to-face confrontation can escalate in ways people don’t anticipate.

She walks through a personal confrontation that intensified quickly and unpacks the miscalculations behind it: underestimating group loyalty, misreading power dynamics, and failing to account for structural risk inside a bully culture. When multiple bullies share space, confrontation is not a neutral exchange — it is shaped by hierarchy, protection, and uneven consequences.

This episode reframes confrontation as a strategic decision, not an emotional one, and explains why the skills that work in healthy workplaces often fail in environments where bullying is protected and reinforced.

Register for the Workplace Bullying Live Series:

• StopBullyCulture.com — including the first session, Beyond Document, Report, Leave, on February 17 at 6 p.m. CST.

Resources:

• StopBullyCulture.com for tools and support
• Follow Dr. Jan Kircher for updates and stories

In this episode, Dr. Jan Kircher breaks down what really happens when bullies band together — not the loud, chaotic “mob” people imagine, but the quiet, coordinated, and often invisible patterns that escalate harm behind the scenes.

She explains how co‑bullying works across roles and hierarchies, why the behavior is so hard to recognize, and how organizations unintentionally reinforce it through investigations, performance reviews, and credibility bias. When multiple people align — even without planning — the abuse compounds, the trauma deepens, and the person on the receiving end is left carrying the weight of a system that protects the perpetrators.

This episode reframes why “mobbing” misses the mark, why language matters, and why clarity is essential for anyone trying to survive a workplace where bullies operate in tandem.

Register for the Workplace Bullying Live Series:

• StopBullyCulture.com — including the first session, Beyond Document, Report, Leave, on February 17 at 6 p.m. CST.

Resources:

• StopBullyCulture.com for tools and support
• Follow Dr. Jan Kircher for updates and stories

In this episode, Dr. Jan Kircher examines how workplace bullying is hidden, protected, and normalized through the mask of respectability.

She explains how bullies use credibility, professional capital, and carefully managed public personas to deflect accountability — whether the bullying comes from a peer building informal power or a leader using formal authority to frame abuse as “just part of the job.” The tactics are often the same, but the protections and consequences are not.

This episode breaks down why bullying reports so often go nowhere, why people who are bullied aren’t believed, and why standard advice doesn’t apply when organizations protect the abuser instead of addressing the harm.

☕ This podcast is independently funded. Consider supporting it at StopBullyCulture.com/Support

Resources:

• StopBullyCulture.com for tools and support
• Follow Dr. Jan Kircher for updates and stories