Today is the first time that I have decided to tell my full story of mobbing because, in my opinion, the problem of mobbing is grossly underestimated.
This happened to me when I was an adult, at the age of 19. Then I just got my first job (where, by the way, I worked for almost 10 years...). The team was very small (4 people with me) and masculine; I was the only female. I haven't graduated from college yet; she is smart, impudent, energetic, with a brutal desire to become a professional in her field, to learn everything and learn everything she can about her profession. I've never been afraid to sound stupid and ask a lot of questions if something wasn't clear. But this has never led to bullying me before; on the contrary, I have always been perceived by “older people” with some surprise and admiration. And in this team, my questions were the reason for ridicule and nit-picking on the part of two colleagues. I can't think of specific examples right now, but I can say with confidence that there was moral pressure and bullying every day. They could send me to a task without telling me what to do and how to do it. In the end, I did it my own way, and then my colleagues laughed at me. They forced me to redo the same work many times without explaining why, why and how; this was always accompanied by a collective discussion of my “abilities”, and gloating comments were made about what I had done. Any of my opinions were initially considered wrong and criticized. It got to the point where I started crying right at the workplace. Quiet without anyone noticing...
This mobbing had one peculiarity: it only happened when both colleagues were together. When they were apart and stayed face-to-face with me, the situation changed; their attitude towards me was polite and even friendly.
After 3 months of this circus, where I was the only clown, I came to my boss with a statement that I had not been hired to work as a clown and asked him to influence the situation. As a result, my boss spoke his teeth to me, but did not intervene in any way. The bullying continued. And I kept fighting back. At one point, this turned into an open conflict between me and one of my colleagues. A healthy person would quickly leave such an unhealthy team. But I decided that I would make my colleagues respect me and stop mocking me.
The result: after 6 years, relations with colleagues improved, they began to consult with me and respect my opinion. But during these 6 years, I completely lost confidence in my professional abilities, began to doubt every decision I made, stopped respecting myself as a specialist. I couldn't take a single step without consulting someone before, and I began to devalue myself and my job.
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