Ethics

It depends on your personality Sripriya. Some people are ok with standing up to that kind of manager, and some are not. If you are the kind of person to stand up to them, then have a face to face chat (one on one) and let them know that this behavior is not acceptable and you want them to respect you, otherwise you will need to escalate things. If you are not one to confront them, then go to HR or their manager. Now this is assuming that there is an appropriate HR process in place, or a manager above them who is willing to listen and also doesn't accept this kind of behavior. Unfortunately, in many organizations there are managers who can get away with this because there is no accountability.

I just posted a blog related to this topic:

https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-pos...Great-Pretender

In my own experience, I take the direct confrontation path. I have sat with my direct managers (in my 30 year career) and let some know of unacceptable behavior, and in one case, told them while they are an effective manager at getting people to deliver, their "leadership style sucks" and then gave them the list of examples why. This doesn't always go down too well, but hey, if you can dish it out, you need to also be able to take it on the chin.

Sripriya -

To add to Sante's feedback, one way or another you will need to tackle this issue. At a bare minimum, have a 1:1 meeting with the boss and make sure they are aware as to how their behavior makes you feel and see how willing they are to explore other approaches of expressing their concerns.

If that doesn't result in any improvement, it depends if they are crossing HR policy lines. If so, then pursue the issue through HR but realize that the company will focus on protecting themselves in 99% of cases so you might be accelerating your departure.

Kiron

Yes I have been in that 99% before.

Sripriya,

First I would like to state that I am sorry you are in this position, understandably there is not much worse than having a "bully" to deal with at work. I am sure like all the other PM colleagues posting their views to you, ultimately you may just have to come to a point whether it is worth staying at this job or not.

I agree with Sante in which it would be best first to use the system (HR or higher management) to try an correct the issue if there are a system to work within.

Given your own title according to your bio, you appear to be quite high up in the ranks per say. Do you feel comfortable enough to discuss the issues with this person?

I wish you all the best in this matter.

Chris