Predicting What Trump Will Do Next

We keep reading in the media about the utter unpredictability of Donald Trump, but I say this is nonsense. From my study of bullies and how bullying works, I know exactly what he’s going to do next. But first, let me give you some background.

Over the years I’ve become something of an expert on adult bullies—I was one early in my career until a wise supervisor set me straight, later on I sadly confess I was at times a bystander to bullying. I’ve been the victim of bullying so severe I was diagnosed with a form of PTSD, and today I’m an advocate for victims of bullying. I’ve dedicated my career to preventing and ending bullying in the workplace, which has inspired two books as well as my foundation’s current partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and our joint Emotion Revolution in the Workplace initiative.

So I can reasonably declare that I’ve learned how bullies work. They are masters of manipulation, deflection, deception, deceit and denial and no one is better at bullying than Donald Trump. Bullies are particularly dangerous when their back is against the wall and the growing agitation about Trump’s connection with Russia is going to have his back against the bricks very soon. The onus is on Congress and the Republicans to force disclosure before the inauguration because it will be easier to prevent Trump from being inaugurated than to try to impeach him afterward. My prediction is if that happens he will do everything he can to maintain his power and control.  He will abuse the power of the presidency up to and including drastic things like martial law.

We only have one week to prevent this disastrous occurrence and I’m deeply concerned. I shared that concern in December when I wrote about my 97-year-old mother who was in the Dutch Resistance in World War II and whose greatest regret was that she didn’t do more to save the victims of the Nazis. That’s why I’m urging you to do what you can and inundate your representatives to demand full disclosure. Don’t let Trump and his people shut you down. Make your voice be heard before it’s too late. America’s future depends upon it.    

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How to Tame Negative Thoughts During Trying Times

We’ve greeted 2017 with a great deal of trepidation, but emotional intelligence tells us that while we must be vigilant and realistic, constant negativity can get in the way of happiness. Fortunately with practice you can learn to disrupt and tame negative cycles. Lesley Alderman suggests “The Year of Conquering Negative Thinking” in the New York Times’ column, “Well.” Great advice!

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Have We Entered a New Age of Bullying?

More than a decade of bullying prevention in public schools is being undone by the messages spread by the American president-elect. The Southern Poverty Law Center has recorded the highest surge in reports of bullying, harassment and racist displays since 9/11. My fear is that bullies will also feel emboldened to bring this sort of behavior into the workplace. On a recent speaking tour in the Midwest, people came up to me afterward to tell stories of how employers used their “employed at will” status to remind them they could be fired at any time. This excellent article by anti-bullying author Emily Bazelon in the New York Times takes a closer look in Bullying in the Age of Trump. But it’s important to remember that one of the first steps in curbing bullying, especially in the workplace, is to find out how employees feel about their jobs and why they feel that way. This is why the Faas Foundation has partnered with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to survey working people about their complicated feelings about their work. You can participate by taking this survey, and please share it with those you know. It’s only by making our voices heard that we will be able to create the psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplaces we so desperately need. 

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How Do You Feel? Make Your Voice Be Heard

Now that we know the results of what has been the most divisive election in our lifetime we must reflect on how the political establishment, the pundits and the media totally misread how people feel and more importantly—why they feel the way they do. Emotions, good and bad, drive behaviors. The people have made their decision in a highly charged emotional environment. While we must respect the will of the people, we must work to protect the checks and balances in place so that history does not repeat itself in normalizing the abnormal, and protecting the hard won rights that may be in jeopardy. 

There is no question that most people distrust the political system and establishment. Unfortunately this has exposed the ugliness, bigotry and intolerance that have been simmering below the surface long before the election cycle started. It also appears that many of us have forgotten what we all learned in kindergarten, the ethic of reciprocity: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Organizational leaders must understand that the level of distrust extends beyond the political establishment. Rarely a day goes by when we are not exposed to the atrocities committed in every segment of our society: in politics, in government, in business, in religion, in sports, in entertainment and in media. The recent scandals at Wells Fargo, Volkswagen, Fox News and Veterans Affairs have highlighted how pervasive this is. Based on research I have done on bullying and psychologically safe, healthy and fair workplaces, employees are afraid and angry. 

The election revealed a great divide that will continue to exist. It also revealed how fragile democracy is. Unless the political parties and the government totally reinvent themselves in a positive way the divide will widen and democracy will fail. The first step in this reformation is to come to grips with how people feel and more importantly why people feel the way they do. 

To come to grips with this in the workplace the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and the Faas Foundation are initiating the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace to help organizations create psychologically safe, healthy and fair workplaces. Currently, we are conducting a North American survey to determine how employees feel about the work they do, the relationships they have at work and how they feel about the organizations they work for. Most importantly, we will determine why employees feel the way they do. Our initiative will identify the unnecessary stress factors employees face and provide evidence-based solutions, unleashing the power of emotional intelligence coupled with the ethic of reciprocity. 

I encourage everyone to complete the survey and ask you to encourage everyone you know to do so as well.

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Tell Us How You Feel About Work

How are things at work? Millions of employees wish that someone would listen to their concerns about what happens at their workplace. Businesses, organizations and legislators don’t have an accurate barometer to determine if workplaces are psychologically healthy, safe and fair. That’s why The Faas Foundation is partnering with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence on the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace, a study to measure how feelings drive organizational behavior. This is your chance to let your voice be heard. This sample survey is completely anonymous and will add to the body of data that will help improve working conditions for everyone. Here's the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace Survey.

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What Businesses Could Learn About Competitiveness From Super Chickens

What does the traditional culture of competitiveness do to our workplaces? Business leader Margaret Heffernan discussed this on a recent episode of the TED Radio Hour using the superchicken study as an example. She discussed what a dog-eat-dog (or chicken-peck-chicken) environment does to productivity and emotional well-being within a company and how social cohesion is what makes for a truly winning team. I’ve long believed that a productive work environment comes from employees who know that their contributions are valued and are treated as respected members of the team. You can listen to her excellent talk here: Forget the Pecking Order at Work.

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Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

Trying your best to have a high level of emotional intelligence is extremely important in the workplace. It helps you learn from your coworkers more effectively, and work with them more productively. In workplace bullying situations, having emotional intelligence helps you better predict the actions or motivations behind harmful behavior. A working understanding of emotional intelligence shouldn’t be relegated to the HR department, either – having educational courses about developing professional empathy is something businesses should incorporate into wellness programs. Developing emotional intelligence as a group can also be a great way of developing workplace culture as well, so all around, it’s something business leaders should pay more attention to. You can find out more about emotional intelligence at Forbes.com.