In His Own Words

The culture of bullying under the Brown regime has been described for some days now in the press and in various newly-published books.  What is even more disturbing is Brown's acknowledgment of his behaviour.

Speaking out 'for the first time about the claims that staff in his office were bullied....He admitted his actions could be viewed as "demanding" and that of a "hard taskmaster" who sometimes got angry and impatient,' but said the office of the Prime Minister could not be held by a "shrinking violet".
"I get angry sometimes – doesn't everybody? I get impatient, I am driven to do the things," he said. "When I came into the job, I said look, I will try my utmost and I challenge people, I ask them to do the best they can.
"Actually, we work in an open plan office, we are a sort of family in Downing Street and like every family there are issues that come from time to time, but we have a got a great working environment and we get things done."
"In my job you have got to get things done, you have got to push people you have got to challenge people. You don't solve a world recession by being a shrinking violet."'  (Telegraph)

This repellent model of familial social relations is wrapped around with delusionary notions of capacity to act and achievements from his actions which feed into justification for the model he is using, and for the means used to maintain it.

"I get angry sometimes - doesn't everybody?"  No, most people do not feel anger in their relations with others; and if they are expressing anger it is interpreted as helplessness in distress and is met with offers of help and feelings of embarrassment at an adult regression to childish behaviour.

"I get impatient, I am driven to do things."   This is anger expressed as 'impatience' and  here resulting from the delaying of gratification; with  external drivers to actions -  'things'  - unspecified but clearly recognised as inappropriate, which permits the distancing of self from  bad behaviour.

""When I came into the job, I said look, I will try my utmost and I challenge people, I ask them to do the best they can."  The command - 'look',  the threat - 'I challenge people',  the contempt for the abilities of the other that must from time to time substitute for the actions of self, the unawareness of the autonomy of others in offering co-operation.

"Actually, we work in an open plan office,"  The implicit denial - 'actually' -  of exclusionary, secret decision-taking.

"and  we are a sort of family in Downing Street and like every family there are issues that come from time to time, but we have a got a great working environment and we get things done."  The assertion of authority and hierarchy where any challenge to the centrality of self is described as 'issues' within a (deeply-flawed) notion of intra-familial relationships, a relationship model which could not be more improper in the workplace.

"and we get things done." "In my job you have got to get things done, you have got to push people you have got to challenge people."   That is,  'people' must do as they are told, as if they were children in a cruel and dysfunctional family.

"You don't solve a world recession by being a shrinking violet."  The complete justification for selfish and unacceptable behaviour derived from a delusional goal that 'requires' total subordination of others and their reasonable, accepted needs and expectations to satisfying the goals of the self.

'A shrinking violet' is a derisory term used to contrast the justificatory grandeur of self-defined 'job' against a threatening requirement to behave normally and acceptably in post and in the public arena of a work place.