Virginia “Ginny” Clarke recently shared research suggesting that star performers are more likely to become targets of workplace bullies. It is a sobering observation because it challenges one of the assumptions many organisations make: that high-performing teams naturally celebrate excellence. In reality, insecure leaders often experience another person’s success as a threat rather than an opportunity.

When a leader’s identity depends on appearing indispensable, the arrival of someone more capable, more innovative or more respected can trigger behaviours designed not to develop talent but to suppress it.

That is why choosing leaders should never be based on performance metrics and achievements alone.

A leader’s results tell us what they have accomplished. They tell us very little about how they achieved those results or what was left behind in their wake.

The Hidden Cost of Hiring the Wrong Leader

Ginny Clarke advocates for competency-based interviews that go beyond technical expertise and explore behaviours such as humility, resilience and tolerance for ambiguity and failure.

I believe this distinction is critical.

In my experience, leaders who display bullying behaviours often share several characteristics:

• They lack humility and believe they are always the smartest person in the room.
• They have a very low tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty, preferring excessive control over collaboration.
• Failure is unacceptable—not because they strive for excellence, but because failure threatens the carefully managed image they project.
• They are highly skilled at managing perceptions rather than solving problems.

When reality threatens that image, protecting themselves becomes more important than protecting the organisation.

That is when unhealthy behaviours begin to emerge.

Problems are hidden rather than escalated.

Reports become selectively optimistic.

Failures are quietly attributed to someone else.

Credit flows upwards while blame flows downwards.

Relationships with senior executives become carefully cultivated, while those lower in the hierarchy experience intimidation, exclusion or humiliation.

The leader appears successful.

The team quietly deteriorates.

Fear Is an Expensive Management Strategy

Many organisations mistake urgency for performance.

A leader sends an “urgent” request late on a Friday afternoon.

Weekend work becomes routine.

Employees are expected to abandon family commitments because “the business needs it.”

Every deadline is presented as a crisis.

Eventually people stop questioning whether the urgency is genuine.

Much of this urgency is manufactured.

It is not driven by customer need.

It is driven by poor planning, poor prioritisation or the leader’s desire to appear relentlessly committed.

The result is exhaustion masquerading as dedication.

Similarly, leaders with bullying tendencies frequently demonstrate remarkably little empathy.

A request for compassionate leave.

A child’s illness.

A family emergency.

A medical procedure.

Instead of concern, employees often encounter irritation or subtle disapproval, as though life’s unavoidable challenges are inconveniences to organisational performance.

Over time employees learn an important lesson:

The work matters more than the people doing it.

Trauma Does Not Stop With the Victim

Ginny Clarke also points out that bullying induces trauma.

I believe this deserves even greater attention.

The employee who is directly targeted experiences the primary trauma.

But the colleagues who witness the behaviour experience something different—secondary trauma.

They watch meetings where someone is publicly humiliated.

They see talented colleagues ignored, excluded or undermined.

They hear the sarcastic remarks.

They notice whose ideas are stolen.

They recognise who receives opportunities and who quietly disappears.

Most importantly, they realise they are powerless to intervene.

Or worse, they conclude that intervening will simply make them the next target.

The culture changes almost overnight.

Innovation declines because speaking up becomes dangerous.

Collaboration disappears because self-preservation takes priority.

People stop taking risks.

Employees become experts not at solving business problems but at reading political signals.

Instead of asking,

“How do we succeed?”

they begin asking,

“How do I survive?”

That is one of the greatest hidden costs of workplace bullying.

Interview for Character, Not Perfection

One of my favourite interview questions is remarkably simple:

“When was the last time you failed at something, and what did you learn?”

It is rarely the answer itself that matters most.

It is how the candidate answers.

Can they admit failure without blaming someone else?

Can they acknowledge uncertainty?

Can they describe personal growth?

Can they laugh at themselves?

Can they demonstrate vulnerability without becoming defensive?

Bullies often struggle with these questions because genuine vulnerability threatens the identity they work so hard to protect.

Humble leaders usually answer differently.

They recognise that leadership is a continuous learning journey.

They know mistakes are inevitable.

They focus less on protecting their ego and more on improving their judgment.

Those are often the leaders who create psychological safety because they have first become psychologically safe with themselves.

Culture Is a Hiring Decision

Organisations frequently invest millions in employee wellbeing programmes, engagement surveys, resilience workshops and anti-bullying policies.

All of these matter.

But they are often treating symptoms rather than causes.

Culture is shaped long before the first engagement survey is distributed.

It is shaped every time we decide who deserves to lead.

If we consistently reward leaders who deliver impressive numbers regardless of how they achieve them, we should not be surprised when fear, politics and harassment become normalised.

If, however, we select leaders who demonstrate humility, accountability, empathy, curiosity and the courage to admit mistakes, we create environments where talented people can thrive instead of merely survive.

Hiring correctly is therefore one of the most effective anti-bullying strategies an organisation can implement.

Because a traumatised team spends its energy protecting itself.

A psychologically safe team spends its energy serving customers, solving problems and creating value.

Ultimately, the greatest competitive advantage is not hiring the smartest leader.

It is hiring the leader who makes everyone else better.