How to avoid being triangulated
Harm prevention for yourself and others in a conflict
This is a follow up premium article to 12 signs a bully is recruiting you for a smear campaign. Upgrade your subscription for full access to this article that provides strategies to avoid becoming someone else’s weapon.
You’ve just been told about a conflict occurring between two people by either one of the disputing parties or secondhand by a supporter of the person in dispute.
You’re now in a situation that didn’t exist in your life a few minutes earlier. You have a number of thoughts running through your head and emotions in your body. You might be wondering now “What am I supposed to do about this?”
If you identified the red flags of becoming an Accuser’s Flying Monkey, also known as the Bully’s ally in this situation, it’s time to do a SITUATION APPRAISAL to determine your role and course of action. Most importantly, you would like to discover if you are going to have a constructive or destructive influence on the conflict and any of the parties involved.
Your options of roles to play are:
Flying Monkey
Caring support
Neutral party
The role you play will be determined by the accuracy of your situation appraisal and what justice looks like to you as a result of your level of involvement.