The Impact of Adversarial Behavior at Work

In this chapter we will examine in some detail what the implications are for a workplace that contains one or more adversarial colleagues, people who create relationships characterized by low levels of trust and support as well as some degree of personalized enmity. We will examine the dynamics found in working relationships in which there is little or no trust or support. Then we will explore the quality of relationships built by colleagues who are adversarial, before identifying a range of consequences that their behavior has for their colleagues, and indeed for themselves. The chapter will end with an opportunity for you to reflect on the character of your own adversarial colleagues and on any adversarial behavior you might have used yourself. However, let’s start the chapter by discussing the ways in which adversarial colleagues are likely to employ political tactics and might also on occasional use bullying behavior.