Strategies for Workers Dealing with Bully Bosses

by Catherine MatticeJul 18, 2012

“Bosses often get a bad rap — mainly because they are just that: the boss.”

Some bosses are good. Others are bad. USA Today presents 4 tips about successfully dealing with bully bosses.

Do you know how much money chronically bad behavior costs your company? Spoiler alert – it’s a LOT higher than you want it to be. Download our data and worksheet to see how it’s costing your organization and what you can do to fix it.

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, an organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500s to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker, author, and blogger and has 60+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning. Her fourth book, Navigating Toxic Work Environments For Dummies (Wiley), is available in all major bookstores and where audiobooks are sold.

7 Questions to Answer Before Launching a Training Program

by Catherine Mattice | February 11, 2026 | Leadership | 0 Comments

Organizations spend a staggering amount on training, yet the results often fall short. In the United States alone, organizations invested $102.8 billion in training in 2025, up from $98 billion in 2024, yet research consistently shows that only 10–20% of training...

Is Your L&D Equipped to Support a Healthy Workplace?

by Catherine Mattice | February 4, 2026 | Leadership | 0 Comments

Learning and Development (L&D) teams are drowning in activity. Leadership academies, compliance refreshers, microlearning libraries, LMS migrations, another platform, another rollout, another “strategic priority.” Motion is constant and it may be keeping your...

Culture Eats Your Policies for Breakfast

by Catherine Mattice | January 21, 2026 | Leadership | 0 Comments

If I see or hear the quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” by Peter Drucker one more time, I might vomit. Everyone loves this phrase, but I’m convinced no one knows what it even means. If they did, Civility Partners would be out of a job. While I haven’t read...

Navigating a Toxic Workplace: Practical Strategies for Leaders, HR, and Employees

by Catherine Mattice | January 9, 2026 | Workplace bullying | 0 Comments

When toxic behavior - such as gossip, harsh sarcasm, incivility, rudeness, public shaming, serial interrupting, microaggressions, and unresolved conflict - is brushed off as personality differences or “not that bad” it normalizes the behavior. As leaders look the...

Start the Year on a Good Note (Literally): Your Workplace Playlist

by Jennifer Areola-Estudillo | January 7, 2026 | Civil & Healthy Workplaces | 0 Comments

Research consistently shows that music affects how our brains process emotion, connection, and stress. According to the American Psychological Association, music can reduce cortisol levels, helping lower stress and anxiety while improving emotional regulation. In...

Celebrating Your 2025 Wins!

by Catherine Mattice | December 17, 2025 | Civil & Healthy Workplaces | 0 Comments

Have you stopped to pause and appreciate everything you’ve accomplished this year? Were you able to make some strides on improving your culture? Did you finally get that one initiative approved that you’ve been working on for a while? Or maybe you finally finished out...

HR in 2025: A Year in Review

by Catherine Mattice | December 11, 2025 | Corporate Culture & Employee Engagement | 0 Comments

As 2025 comes to a close, it’s hard not to look back and notice just how much the world of HR has been in motion. This year revealed an incredible amount of resilience, creativity, and heart across the profession. Many of you worked quietly behind the scenes,...

’Tis the Season for Boundaries: Protecting Your Time and Well-Being This Holiday Season

by Catherine Mattice | December 3, 2025 | Civil & Healthy Workplaces | 0 Comments

The holiday season is a time to rest, connect, and reflect. But for many employees, it can also feel overwhelming. Work seems to speed up instead of slow down thanks to the “vacation tax” that comes with time off. Projects pile up, deadlines tighten, and expectations...

A Year of Appreciation: What We’re Grateful For at Civility Partners

by Catherine Mattice | November 26, 2025 | Civil & Healthy Workplaces | 0 Comments

As we approach the holiday season, our team at Civility Partners is taking a moment to pause, breathe, and reflect on what we’re most grateful for. Our mission has always been clear: to partner with our clients to help them create a positive workplace environment....

Civility Partners vs. Korn Ferry & EY: What Sets Us Apart

by Catherine Mattice | November 19, 2025 | Leadership | 0 Comments

Recently I was asked the question on a podcast: “What do people get when they work with Civility Partners? My answer: “You’ll get direct, honest and empathetic information. We care very much about our mission to create work environments across the globe where people...