Want to know about gatekeeper bullying? Here are all the ways bullies act as gatekeepers.
Gatekeepers are those who allow only certain people in and keep others out.
Therefore, in this post, you will learn all about gatekeeper bullying so that you can recognize it when it happens to you.
Once you learn about this sneaky form of bullying, you will be able to find ways to skirt around the gatekeeper and protect yourself.
This post is all about gatekeeper bullying to give you the signs you need to recognize.
Gatekeeper Bullying
This kind of bullying occurs mainly in the workplace. However, it can happen anywhere, at school, in the neighborhood, or even in the family.
Before we get into this topic, let’s find out what gatekeeping is. Therefore, what is gatekeeping? It is the act of taking control over resources, time, materials, information and chance opportunities.
Again, gatekeeper bullying happens mostly in the workforce. However, it can happen anywhere. Gatekeepers can be individuals or groups. They’re the type of bullies who specialize in letting only certain people in and keep others out of the loop.
As a result, they limit the choices and opportunities of those they deem unworthy and give them all to others. Therefore, understand that gatekeeping is a form of bullying.
Why? Because it’s specifically designed to leave out people the gatekeeper either hates or doesn’t like.
Here are all the ways bullies act as gatekeepers.
Gatekeepers are passive bullies.
Why are they passive? Because they aren’t out there, actively doing things to make their victims’ lives hell. In fact, they don’t have to do anything at all.
The problem is not what they do, it’s what they don’t do. These bullies are passive because they take a more indirect approach. Therefore, they’re much harder to detect.
While other bullies are out there, actively doing bad things to ruin their targets’ lives, gatekeepers do their dirt on the sly.
This is what makes gatekeeper bullying so hard to prove.
The weapons this type of bully uses are their talents, resources, time, materials, and their access to information. Therefore, they have the power to either withhold those things or use them as leverage against you. Also, they have the power to control deadlines.
In doing these things to the people they can’t stand, they create undo stress for them. So, what tactics do these people use against you?
1. Gatekeeper Bullying:
They Withhold resources.
These resources could be money or material like paper and ink cartridges for the printer. ‘You see? Gatekeepers like to bully those who are bold, resourceful, innovative, and creative. And if you’re that type, look out!
Why? Because you threaten them. Therefore, these bullies will withhold resources just to slow you down. And when you ask them where the materials are? They’ll only sweetly reply that they either can’t find them or that they’re running low.
Therefore, they’ll make plausible excuses.
But see this for what it is and the goal behind it. They do this to sabotage you on the job. And it’s designed to make you look incompetent or that you just don’t give a crap.
Without the tools to do your job, you appear to be a bad employee. And, who’s going to believe you when you tell them that Sally didn’t give you the supplies you needed to do your assignment?
If nothing else, know this! These bullies have a vested interest in keeping you out of the loop.
2. Controlling Your Access to Accurate Information.
This person will control your ability to have the information you need to complete a task. They’ll do this by either completely withholding it or only giving you bits and pieces of it.
For instance, they might give you a five-step process to an assignment when the job requires ten steps to complete.
Also, if there’s a company meeting that starts at eight o’clock, the gatekeeper may tell you that the meeting starts at eight-fifteen.
They may even “accidentally” forget to tell you about a mandatory Zoom call. Gatekeepers may also discourage others from helping you out.
And you won’t think to question it because this person has probably worked with the company longer than you have. Therefore, you’re likely to trust them.
Even if you don’t, who’s going to believe you when you tell them that Kathy gave you the wrong information?
You must know the intentions behind it. And the gatekeeper’s objective is to make you look like you can’t do your job.
3. Gatekeeper Bullying:
Giving Unrealistic Deadlines.
For example, these types of bully bosses may give you deadlines that are impossible to reach. Moreover, they might pile so much work on you that you don’t have a chance in hell of getting it done in time.
And, are you likely to question the boss? Would you have the guts to tell him that there’s no way you can make that deadline or complete all that work in time?
And if you did, what do you think the boss would say? He’d likely hit you with a barrage of gaslighting.
Make no mistake! Your boss really doesn’t want you to make that due date. He wants you to fail. Why? Because it makes you look bad.
4. Controlling Opportunities.
This bully will block any chances of advancement. For instance, you may be up for a well-deserved promotion and get passed over. Instead, they may give it to someone who isn’t qualified.
In fact, they’ll give it to anyone who isn’t you. Why? Because if they gave it to you, they would have to admit that you’re damn good at your job.
And when you’re good at your job, you outshine them. Therefore, in order for the boss to look like he’s better than you, he has to make you look like crap.
5. Gatekeeper bullying:
Controlling Your Life-Chances.
These bullies might throw a monkey wrench in your life-chances. So, what are life chances?
According to EBSCO Research Starters, they “refer to the probabilities of opportunities to individuals in society, influencing their potential for success and upward mobility.
Gatekeepers love to control your life chances and keep you stuck. Why? Because it gives them a rush of power. Also, it keeps them on top.
So, how do they do it? They do it by giving a potential employer a bad reference when you leave the toxic workplace.
Therefore, how do you protect yourself from an undeserved bad reference? You do it by just putting in your resignation, fulfilling the conditions of your two-weeks notice, and getting the hell out of Dodge!
Also, if possible, you don’t put them down as a reference. I know this sounds dishonest. However, if you quit a workplace you were bullied in, it’s never a good idea to even let on to a new company that you ever worked for them.
Because workplace bullies will find ways to block you from future employment if they get the opportunity to do so. Therefore, it’s best not to give them that chance.
6. Destroying Your Chances of Success.
This is what their shenanigans are all about. To keep you from having any successes. Again, the bully’s entire mission is to set you up to fail.
They trip you up, then stand back and smile as they watch you fall on your face. And they pat themselves on the back for a job well-done.
They’ve contained the threat and now they can breathe easier and work in peace, knowing that their little corner is safe again.
7. Gatekeeper Bullying:
Excluding you from meetings, classes, and workplace social functions.
These bullies will also conveniently forget to tell you about any meetings or social gatherings. Moreover, they’ll make sure no one else tells you either.
Why? They do it simply to make you feel like you don’t belong there. Also, they do it to make success feel like it’s out of reach.
8. Adding more steps than needed to do your job.
Bullies may tell you that your job requires more steps than it really does. Understand that they do this to slow you down.
Why? Because you just might make that deadline and upstage them. Trust me when I say this. These people will pull out all the stops to keep you from finishing tasks.
9. They distract you from your work.
Workplace bullies deliberately distract you from your projects with constant interruptions, which are time-consuming. Why? Because they know that if they can stall you, they may cause you to miss a deadline.
Moreover, they may call your office phone with constant memos and reminders. But realize that it’s all a ploy to throw you off your game.
10. Gatekeeper Bullying:
Giving you meaningless or degrading assignments.
Bully bosses will often take you off you regular work assignments and give you degrading or subservient jobs. For instance, they may select you to clean the office bathrooms.
Also, they may designate you to make coffee runs for everyone else. Or he may give you the task of serving coffee to the rest of the team.
You might even be tasked with emptying all the trash.
However, see this for what it is. He’s doing it to degrade you. In other words, he’s demoting you, only without making it official.
In closing
If you recognize three or more of these signs and they occur repeatedly, it might be time to quietly begin looking for new employment.
You won’t to create an exit plan early in the game. Why? So that you can get out before the bullying has time to do any lasting damage to your mental health.
You must do what you can to protect yourself.
This post is all about gatekeeper bullying on the job so that you can recognize it when it happens to you, cut your losses, and quietly find new employment.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Gaslighting at Work: 5 Surefire Indicators to Watch Out For
2. What Not to Share at Work When You Suffer Workplace Bullying
3. Mobbing in the Workplace: How it Progresses, Step-by-Step