Labor / Employment, On The Job

Natasha Bowman On Workplace Bullying, Personal Branding, And Her Upcoming Book

Workplace bullying can affect morale, increase turnover, and give rise to lawsuits.

By  
on
Natasha Bowman

Natasha Bowman

“Turn your face towards the sun / Let the shadows fall behind you / Don’t look back, just carry on / And the shadows will never find you.” — Rihanna

Earlier this month, Natasha Bowman delivered a presentation, at the Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., titled Equal Opportunity Bullying: How Even Lawful Behavior Can Put Your Organization at Legal Risk.

Bowman has developed a reputation as an expert consultant and thought leader for organizations like The Heritage Foundation, Knowledge International, and Wiley Publishing, among others. Her expertise spans human resources management, talent management, employment law, organizational development, sourcing and recruiting, collective bargaining, and ethics and compliance. Because of her ability to diagnose workplace issues and provide proven solutions to organizations, she is often referred to as “The Workplace Doctor.”

Bowman founded Performance ReNEW last year with the mission of developing the next generation of organizational leaders. Here is a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of my conversation with Natasha Bowman:

Renwei Chung (RC): What motivated you to attend law school, and how did you choose University of Arkansas School of Law?

Natasha Brown (NB): When presented with my options for enrollment and scholarship opportunities, I chose the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville due to its close proximity to the home office of Walmart Stores Inc. Because I was still determining whether or not I would use my JD to practice labor and employment law or as a tool to continue my career in HR, I thought if I could land an opportunity with Walmart while in law school, I could be exposed to both sides.

Sponsored

RC: Performance ReNEW focuses on developing leaders. How can lawyers become better leaders?

NB: Just like with leadership any organization, leaders in the legal field should not just focus on becoming a subject matter expert, but also on developing their soft skills such as emotional intelligence. Due to the nature of law, many lawyers already possess many of the skills necessary for leadership: effective communication, persuasion, the ability to negotiate. But they should also leverage those same skills that they use to practice law to engage the workforce within their law offices.

RC: Earlier this month, you gave a presentation on bullying in the workplace. How does bullying affect workplace culture?

NB: Bullying can have a major impact on workplace culture. Not only can it affect morale, reduce employee engagement, and increase turnover, it can also lead to extreme stress amongst employees. What many fail to realize is that it can also result in legal implications. Many organizations have the mistaken belief that workplace bullying is legal as long as it the person doing the bullying isn’t discriminatory in their actions. The reality is that employees do in fact have other legal avenues that they can pursue other than Title VII claims, such as through state workplace tort laws.

RC: You mentioned that “you are responsible for your own career development,” and you wish you knew this fact earlier in your career. Can you expound on this?

Sponsored

NB: I, like many others, often depended on my employer for my career growth and development. Additionally, I thought if I was doing everything right at work by exceeding expectations, going above and beyond, and reaching organizational goals, then I’d be on a guaranteed path to promotion opportunities.

However, I found that that was just simply not the case. I am solely responsible for reaching my professional goals and dreams. While many organizations have given me opportunities for development and growth that I will always be grateful for, I am living by a saying that I read a while back: “If you’re not making your own dreams come true, you’re making someone else’s.”

RC: Can you tell us more about your career path and the importance of building a personal brand?

NB: My career path has been very unique. After graduating from law school, I had the opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company, one of New York’s largest employers, and to teach at some of the most prestigious schools in the country, such as Georgetown University and Fordham University; however, most if not all of those opportunities came to me rather than me going after them.

I have worked very hard over the past 10 years or so building my personal brand. I have over 20,000 connections on Linkedin that are about 99% in my professional field. Additionally, I constantly keep in touch with my past employers and colleagues. I spend a good amount networking at events as well. All of these actions have played a role in my career path.

RC: Your book, You Can’t Do That at Work: 100 Common Legal Mistakes that Managers Make in the Workplace, comes out on May 6. Can you give us a brief overview?

NB: Through my work as a legal academic, human resources practitioner, and consultant, I kept seeing many managers and organizational leaders making the same mistakes that were resulting in legal claims being filed against them.

What I came to realize is that most organizations are well aware of basic federal labor and employment laws, but often struggle with the interpretation and application of them. They are often shocked to hear that these are not as black and white as they appear. Who would have thought having a policy of being respectful at work could potentially violate the National Labor Relations Act? This book explores those gray areas of labor and employment laws and gives real-life scenarios of what those laws really mean and how they really impact workplaces.

RC: It was great chatting with you. Is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

NB: It was great chatting with you as well. I wish everyone reading this article the very best in their careers and challenge them to make the most of every opportunity that is presented to them. If no opportunities are presented then, they should go out and seek them. Much success to you all.

On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, I would like to thank Natasha Bowman for sharing her story with our audience. We wish her continued success in her career.

Natasha Bowman can be reached on Twitter (@mylifeiswork) and by email. You can also visit her website Performance ReNEW for more information.

Renwei Chung attends SMU Dedman School of Law. He has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Chicago. He is passionate about writing, technology, psychology, and economics. You can contact Renwei by email at projectrenwei@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter (@renweichung), or connect with him on LinkedIn.

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , , ,