There's much to be learnt from the failures of our political leaders.
At present Gordon Brown, Britain's beleaguered prime minister, is being accused of being an unmitigated bully.
In the corridors of power rumours have been circulating for months about his hectoring manner.
It's claimed that the upholstery of his official car is covered in indentations, caused whenever he stabs the leather with his pen in a fit of temper.
Another insider reported that in one fit of paddy he pulled a secretary out of her chair for typing too slowly.
Others talk of incidents when he abused senior officials, threw mobile phones across the room, and grabbed an aide by his lapels shouting 'They are out to get me.
' Matters came to a head a few days ago when Christine Pratt, chief executive of the National Bullying Helpline charity, announced that she'd received several complaints from members of Brown's personal staff at No 10 Downing Street who'd been victims of his bullying.
At present none of these reports have been confirmed, and a massive PR cover-up in underway.
Big Brother has already suspended the National Bullying Help Line, and called for the Charity Commissioners to carry out a scrutiny of its functions.
No doubt the charge will be that by publicising evidence unfavourable to the prime minister the help line was of necessity serving a political function which by law no charities are allowed to perform.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of this particular issue, all parties agree that Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, found it necessary to give the PM a private 'pep talk', telling him how to get the best out of his staff.
This is something that every manager needs to learn, so they can acquire the noble art of leading, rather than driving, their staff.
Bullying is a tactic which may succeed for a while, but is never the best way to win friends and influence people.
This was shown by studies carried out over a number of years by two psychologists working at the University of California, Berkeley.
They discovered that it was self doubt above all else that turns bosses into bullies.
According to the Berkeley Studies it doesn't matter how brilliant a manager is.
If in the depths of their psyches they have doubts about their competence, they'll feel threatened whenever their put to the test.
It's on those occasions that they're most likely to abuse their authority.
Cornered managers, like trapped animals, tend to lash out.
In one study, of ninety employees who claimed to be in positions of power, it was found that those who admitted giving vent to aggressive outbursts were more likely to be unsure of their worth and report that they constantly worried about whether people did, or did not, value their worth.
As the two researchers concluded: 'Power holders who do not feel personally competent are more likely than those who feel competent to lash out against other people,' The remedial task for these insecure managers is to take steps to boost their self esteem and self-valuation.
The strategy that their bullied victims should adopt is to stay calm and not take the abuse personally.
The fault lies not with them, but with their insecure boss.
To improve matters they should indulge in large doses of ego massage.
This is the view of the Berkeley duo, Nathanael Fast and Serena Chen, who offer the following advice to victims of repeated bullying in their paper published last year in the journal 'Psychological Science': 'the finding that self-worth boosts assuage the aggressive tendencies of such power holders implies the effectiveness of a strategy commonly employed by underlings: excessive flattery.
' This is subterfuge the denizens of Downing Street should keep constantly in mind.