Improspectives

I’m not sure how many of you follow American sports, in this case the National Football League, but something important happened yesterday. The Miami Dolphins suspended Pro Bowl offensive lineman Richie Incognito for conduct detrimental to the team. The suspension resulted from an investigation after a Dolphin player left the team as a result of constant abuse, allegedly at the hands of Incognito.

NFL teams, like many sports teams and other organizations, has a tradition of hazing rookie players. Some examples include making rookies carry veteran players’ shoes, sing songs, duct-taping them to goal posts, and so on. If published reports are true, Incognito’s threatening text messages and at least one voice mail went far beyond what’s considered acceptable within the league. In a possibly related note, an ESPN.com article noted that an anonymous player survey tagged Incognito as the second dirtiest player in the league.

Bullying cannot and must not be tolerated. Yes, we all need to be mentally tough enough to make it through stressful times, but constant attacks on sensitive individuals will probably erode their base, not strengthen it. Also, just because someone can take abuse doesn’t mean they should have to.

If you find anyone in your organization who makes a habit of trying to “build others up” through bullying or other abuse, take decisive action immediately to put a stop to it. If you don’t, you could be responsible for team dysfunction and get your own dose of suffering when the inevitable lawsuit comes. I think you’ll enjoy defending a firing for misconduct a lot more than defending a lawsuit for failing to stop abusive behavior.