I can’t express this sentiment more eloquently than Nate Silver did, so I’ll just quote him.
I dunno. I guess you could study this systematically and someone probably should. It does seem like when women are running, the threshold is lower for controversies that are deemed to overshadow a campaign, e.g. Warren/DNA, Gillibrand/Franken, Klobuchar/staff (or Hillary/email).
I’m trying to think of how this story would be framed if it were a discussion of Senator Arnold Klobuchar’s legendarily tough office environment.
The Nate Silver thought struck me as particularly unaware… of course this happens, and of course it has already been studied intensively?
Who among us hasn’t hurled a binder across the room in disgust? Or, at least because it bit us? No, seriously. God knows, I’ve done it.
I am now persuaded that her management style is somewhere between that of Gordon Ramsey and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. I get that this has been cocktail party gossip in DC for years and is a matter of great concern to the fraternity of congressional staffers who work long hours for not very good pay, in a situation where both housing and dressing costs are high, when they could just go to work on K-Street.
I just have yet to see anyone tell my why I should consider this relevant to her qualifications for the presidency.
Well, it might limit the quality of staff she’s able to attract. And the way you treat people underneath you says something about your character, I think. It’s not nothing.
But people aren’t perfect, and it’s miles away from disqualifying on its own. IMHO.
It would be something like although he’s always quick with a joke or a wisecrack he’s “known to have a temper.” But the unspoken context would be that of course these A personalities have tempers. They said that regularly about Bill Clinton. Just part of being a guy in a high-pressure job.
I think it’s relevant, whether the person is male or female doesn’t have any play in it.
Toxic work environments are toxic. And a leader who is aloof and detached doesn’t get the critical information they need to be successful-- people are literally scared to go to them with anything other than “yes” to what they want, rather than what they might need.
See the current occupant. Surrounded by people telling him “Don’t leave Syria, ISIS will come back”, he ignores everyone except the couple of people telling him “yes” in line with his “instincts”.
What is of import here, though, is whether we’re only seeing this story because klobuchar is female.
If, say, Cory Booker is an asshole to his workers (not saying he is, just a what if), then that should also be a story.
“The Devil Wears Sensible Shoes”
I do not know if she is any more or less abusive than any other senator or congressperson.
That said, data support that in the business – or maybe bureaucratic – world abusiveness toward subordinates can be a “derailer,” or a behavior that sets a manager on a path to the exit.
People rebel, complain, produce less, may even sabotage an abusive boss. In a Fortune 500 co, I had a boss demoted because of complaints of abusiveness.
Is this a deal breaker for a senator with presidential ambitions? I don’t know.
Really uncomfortable with the quick sensationalizing of all of this - and really uncomfortable with the fact that it all appears to have the potential to largely pivot around
(1.) the gender of the individual under the microscope…, and (2.) the public persona / image cultivated by said individual
A Man can be - A tough, cranky, perfectionist task master - with no patience for sloppiness or inadequate effort - and can be viewed as a coveted mentor - an individual whose approval is sought and cherished - Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. in the movie Paper Chase …
While a female version of Kingsfield would likely be viewed as an intolerant Tyrant and a shrew … more like Cruella DeVil …
Meanwhile, while we’re on the subject of the hard-driven workaholic politician:
In terms of slack being cut, I have always looked at it as two normal curves…like height for men and women… two bell curves placed together on one horizontal axis
The horizontal axis left to right instead of height…“slack which is cut”
Some real tyrants exist under both bells.
I really like the idea of an Amy K, but bullying bosses serve no one. I would respect this more if she wasn’t denying or justifying. She needs to address the issue and get help for it. As a consultant I have addressed this with clients a number of times and that is not unusual. I also would not see it as disqualifying if it is admitted and addressed. It is a test of her ability to lead. Can she meet a personal challenge and make a positive change?
Reporting her proclivity towards out-of-control behavior is not sexist. There was a similar article circulating about Indiana Congressman Todd Rokita was he was running for the Senate from Indiana. How is this relevant to her running for president? The issue is how someone who is unaccountable to anyone higher to him or her in an office (a Congressman in Rokita’s case, a Senator in Klobuchar’s case, or a CEO in Trump’s case in the Trump Organization) treats the people who work for them. Klobuchar, apparently, is an asshole. Berating staff on emails copied to others and throwing things around the office are behaviors that should count against her, since it shows she has little control over herself. Battering someone (hitting them with a binder you have thrown) is a crime. Her being an asshole is not per se disqualifying for the presidency, but it is a factor to consider. Additionally, what is REALLY worrying is the THINGS over which she has these apparently uncontrollable fits of losing her temper - using paperclips instead of staples, grammatical errors, packing the wrong coat, etc. This shows an absolute base pettiness that reflects, at best, an inability to prioritize importance of issues and, at worst, a sadistic desire to inflict humiliation on staffers. So, again, not disqualifying - but it certainly raises questions about her temperament, particularly in such a crowded field where it’s easier to find someone with similar policy positions and not the psychological baggage she apparently carries.
Bullying bosses typically don’t perceive themselves as being bullies… I’ve had a couple of the type (male and female), and they weren’t that introspective. They couldn’t connect the dots between the massive personnel churn under them and anything in the environment…
Well, the press regularly panned Clinton for chaotic nature of his White House operation. Temper was part of that.
We shouldn’t kid ourselves that Klobuchar is being unfairly targeted because a man wouldn’t have to deal with charges of bullying. The 1984 presidential campaign of Fritz Hollings of South Carolina was derailed for a lot of reasons, and one of them was his abuse of his Senate staff.
Congressional staff have ZERO job protections. Hired and fired at will. I was very impressed by what I saw of Klobuchar in the Kavanaugh hearings, but I’m troubled by these reports of her bullying staff.
I have to say that I would bet real money that Nancy Pelosi expects a great deal from her staff, but it’s very hard to imagine her throwing a binder at someone.
This is the most even-handed comment I’ve seen on this issue yet. My primary criterion for which candidate to support in the primaries is who is the most likely to get things done for the common good. Klobuchar has been effective in getting legislation passed. That’s a plus in my book. A bad temper is not disqualifying; workplace harassment would be but I haven’t heard anything to that effect.
This is where it helps to have a consultant. Since I have seen a lot, have no ax to grind and am immune from the politics at the client I can sometimes get people to recognize the difference between how they want to be perceived and what their behaviors impart.
“unlikeable”, “shrill”, “strident”, “a woman, just not that woman”, should sound familiar. This could be Clinton redux but this time with at least four serious women candidates.