An inspiring piece from Helen Major about how to face up to—and ultimately overcome—the frightening failure of economic and political institutions that is currently threatening our future.

Helen Major considers another looming issue for our times: the large number of Baby Boomers approaching retirement. Will we tackle this with care and insight? Or let stereotyping, prejudice and media hype—on both sides—turn a well-understood problem into yet another politicized crisis? Current events don’t seem to offer a very hopeful outcome.

Helen Major has some dispiriting news for anone trying to curb a bully: don’t expect either the HR department or your union to be of much help. Current interventions do not produce positive outcomes, either for the individuals or the organizations. Good intentions abound, but they aren’t enough. It will take leadership and commitment by the whole organization to do the job of stopping work place bullying.

As the boss, you have a professional obligation to provide leadership and professional mentoring to everyone in your team, including those you don’t like and who don’t like you. How can you deal with this challenge, without feeling awkward and defensive every time you interact? Helen Major shares her own experience with inheriting a team that included a talented and abrasive employee who introduced herself by saying she didn’t trust Helen and didn’t want to work with her.