13/01/2026
Last week I wrote about adverse action, a tactic used to control male employees and the ways they approach leave in the workplace.
Not long after that another male opened up about his passive aggresive supervisor withholding documents required to complete tasks.
This behaviour caused so much frustration that the employee decided he would rather depart the state he resides in and move to the other side of the country just to be able to do the job he loves.
So why would a so called team leader withhold paper work required to complete tasks?
1. fear, he’s afraid his team can do a better job than him. Rather than look at his colleagues like they are part of a team, the passive aggressive man feels like he’s alone. There are no teams in his world.
2. Control and power he may believe that with his knowledge and standing he has the upper hand over everyone and his team have to go through him to get the job done.
3. Dodging responsibility and blame. Sometimes leaders may cut corners with safety or when basic instructions have not been passed on. If there is no paperwork there is no proof and blame shifting becomes easier.
4. Sabatage and confusion, there are a subset of people in the world who actually enjoy keeping others in a state of confusion and set others up to fail. This makes them look and feel superior and like they are the only person who can do the job.
The male who reached out to me about this issue did the right thing. He approached HR with his issues and when HR told them he was not the only staff member to share this experience and that there was no immediate resolution in the future, the only thing left for him to do was to leave and seek employment in a workplace he felt appreciated in.
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