Vigilantes at Work

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Workplace bullies present in diverse forms; some are overtly aggressive in their power grab, and others operate underground, constructing elaborate passageways to disperse gossip throughout the veins of the organization.

Regardless of their approach, most bullies possess a shaky sense of self. In an attempt at stabilization, many concoct fictitious worlds in which they wear the crown, set the agenda, and enforce the unofficial rulebook. Such power seige requires them to trade in authentic connections for partnerships based on fear. Within this role, they abandon the quest for deep and authentic work in exchange for time spent policing peers and forging a vigilante identity.

Who Are Workplace Vigilantes?

Decelles and Aquino (2020), in their Dark Knights: When an Employee Becomes a Workplace Vigilante, define the vigilante on the job "as an employee who has taken on the self-appointed role identity of being a monitor and punisher of coworkers' deviance." Unlike whistleblowers, who put their jobs on the line to call out unethical behavior to those in a position to enact change, vigilantes fight on behalf of themselves, eager to punch down in order to climb up (Near and Miceli, 1985). Vigilantes are from the "that's not how we do it around here cadre" enforcers of conformity.

Workplace Vigilantes Create Cultures of Fear and Compliance

Workplace vigilantes tend to share common characteristics. First, they possess a positivist worldview punctuated by moral certainty, causing them to feel threatened by those who think and behave differently than themselves. Moral certainty negates opportunities for curiosity and critical conversations, hence hampering organizations' ability to innovate.

As Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, recently shared in a tweet,

“Claiming the moral high ground is rarely a sign of virtue. It's often a signal of narcissism. People who consistently believe they hold superior principles have inflated opinions of their own judgment. Being self-righteous is a barrier to respecting and learning from others.”

Second, workplace vigilantes adopt an authoritarian management style, even when they don't have management responsibilities, leading them to dictate rules and monitor for compliance outside their purview.

Third, workplace vigilantes wrestle with ongoing anxiety and fear, parking them in a constant state of hypervigilance, where people and ideas that are different are perceived as a threat.

Workplace vigilantes engage in both direct and indirect peer monitoring. Direct peer surveillance includes one-on-one shaming sessions and public callouts, where the aggressor overtly asserts her displeasure.

Indirect surveillance, on the other hand, relies on underground complaints and critiques, nodding in agreement during meetings, and then feeding the gossip channels with sticky stories to discredit the target's ideas and accomplishments once the crowd has dispersed (DeCelles, Tesluk, & Taxman, 2013; Dzurec, 2020).

What Can Organizations Do to Combat Workplace Vigilantes?

So, how can an organization refocus vigilantes' efforts on meaningful work and help them abandon the zest for surveillance?

Here are four suggestions to get the process started.

1. Identify the workplace vigilantes' professional passions and offer them a corner each week to pursue them zealously alongside peers. Sometimes, the quest for constant critique and criticism is a maladaptive strategy to carve out an identity that provides purpose, recognition, and belonging.
2. Create professional development opportunities centered around crucial conversations, crafting space for colleagues to learn how to sit with discomfort, digest diverse ideas, and share counterarguments with clarity and kindness. Clear and compassionate communication skills are not inherent traits (Grenny, Patterson, McMillan, Switzler, & Gregory, 2022).
3. Help leaders to model inclusive conversations, operating for a growth mindset, instead of leaning on top-down models that value compliance over curiosity (Dweck, 2006). Workplace vigilantes do not emerge in a vacuum; they breathe and multiply in cultures that model and support their existence.
4. Promote employees adept at transformative leadership, rewarding innovation and collaboration over compliance and uniformity. Subordinates of transformative leaders report feeling supported, describe decision-making as cooperative and transparent, and enjoy autonomy and shared governance—making them feel like their voices count (Sondaite & Keidonaite, 2020).

Workplace vigilantes plant seeds of distrust throughout the organization, prompting employees to constantly watch their back instead of chasing the mission. Vigilantes on the job are not whistleblowers calling out unethical behaviors but self-appointed hall monitors anxious to shout "gotcha."

Vigilantes operate from a place of fear, disquieted by those who challenge their thinking. Coaching vigilantes on sitting with discomfort around difference and building relationships atop intellectual curiosity instead of compliance are viable first steps in breaking the cycle and encouraging vigilantes to take off their capes and get back to work.