Bullies should be rejected at every turn. They are selfish, arrogant, and oppressive. They take out their frustrations on other people and leave hurt, resentment, anger, and depression in their wake. Bullies prey on people they think are weaker than themselves. They seek imbalances of power and use fear, threats, and intimidation to impose their will.

As repugnant as bullying is, almost everyone has had some direct experience with it. It is not isolated to children; adults deal with bullying as well. People experience it online in every digital channel. It happens in the workplace, in politics, the media, and in public discourse.

Experts, it turns out, are just as likely to resort to bullying or manipulation as other people. If that was the end of the story, we would not mention it in this book. But unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. SMEs have important responsibilities in this matter.

By virtue of their unique role, SMEs have power—even significant power— in their organizations. Colleagues are often inclined to comply with an SME’s wishes because they believe the SME has unique knowledge and maybe even political clout. But as soon as SMEs push colleagues to comply with their recommendations simply because of their position or authority, rather than by the merits of the recommendation itself, they approach the domain of the bully. People should not do what you say as an SME because you are an expert but because of the merits of what you say. They should be inclined to support you because they know what you recommend helps them, not because your position or power threatens them.

SMEs should never bully colleagues in any way. Being an SME brings special status, but abusing that status destroys trust quickly and will ultimately leave the SME rejected by the people and organizations who should benefit from the SME’s service.