I was lucky enough to hear Terry Crews speak Friday night at LIVE TALKS LA .https://livetalksla.org/. He was interviewed by Tim Ferriss who I hold in great esteem. The interview was full of amazing stories and a lot of great insights from both successful men. But a topic I wasn't expecting to hear was sexual harassment. Which is silly, given the current state of media, but it still surprised me when Mr. Crews discussed quite briefly that he wasn't sure what would happen because he had spoken out about being harassed. He talked about wondering if he had done the wrong thing in speaking out and if it would mean he had damaged his career. The crowd shouted out that he had done the right thing. But I understood the hesitancy. Not only could it affect his career, it's also an uncomfortable topic to discuss with a room of people. Which is what happens if you speak out. And that isn't dependent on whether you are famous or not. If you decide to speak out, you are going to end up having to tell the story. It hurts and at some level I believe we think we did something wrong to cause this to happen. And so when we have to speak out about it and admit that we "let" this thing happen to us, it's difficult. Add to it the idea that you might lose your job, respect or your entire career then it becomes a huge decision to speak out.
I found Mr. Crews on Linkedin and told him that I thought he was courageous and that I had in fact spoken out many years ago. He responded back that it was encouraging to hear. Courage is the word I think of when I think of the companies willing to deal with this issue head on. Websters defines it as:
"mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty"
And this brings us around to "Fear". Fear is what stops us from speaking out. It also stops us from supporting those that do. It keeps us from looking at our own businesses and seeing what is really happening. Because if we find something that needs to stop, then we have to change. And everyone hates change. Change means walking into the unknown which brings us back to fear. But without change we never grow. And ultimately, we all want to grow- ourselves, our people, our businesses. In order to grow you must embrace change and walk through fear with courage. If you keep your head in the sand and hope no one is doing anything wrong, or pretend that this can't happen to your company, then you are setting yourself up for change as well. But change that you won't be in control of - change that will be dictated by others.
Whether you like it or not, this is not the time to keep your head in the sand. It is the time for transparency, hard questions and solutions. The best thing about taking a hard look at issues this complex is that it won't just protect your company from sexual harassment. It will also open the door to a culture that will be able to navigate other difficulties that may arise because you will lay a ground work to tackle the hard questions with courage, insight and honesty. Those values will not only protect your company long term, they will build an environment of growth in all areas. Because courage is needed in business - creating that environment will only translate in people speaking up with new ideas, better ways to work and profitable ways to grow. Don't be afraid to step forward and find the answers!
If you would like help doing just that - call us at 310-490-3273.
www.weeehelp.com
workplace ethics, etiquette & education.
I found Mr. Crews on Linkedin and told him that I thought he was courageous and that I had in fact spoken out many years ago. He responded back that it was encouraging to hear. Courage is the word I think of when I think of the companies willing to deal with this issue head on. Websters defines it as:
"mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty"
And this brings us around to "Fear". Fear is what stops us from speaking out. It also stops us from supporting those that do. It keeps us from looking at our own businesses and seeing what is really happening. Because if we find something that needs to stop, then we have to change. And everyone hates change. Change means walking into the unknown which brings us back to fear. But without change we never grow. And ultimately, we all want to grow- ourselves, our people, our businesses. In order to grow you must embrace change and walk through fear with courage. If you keep your head in the sand and hope no one is doing anything wrong, or pretend that this can't happen to your company, then you are setting yourself up for change as well. But change that you won't be in control of - change that will be dictated by others.
Whether you like it or not, this is not the time to keep your head in the sand. It is the time for transparency, hard questions and solutions. The best thing about taking a hard look at issues this complex is that it won't just protect your company from sexual harassment. It will also open the door to a culture that will be able to navigate other difficulties that may arise because you will lay a ground work to tackle the hard questions with courage, insight and honesty. Those values will not only protect your company long term, they will build an environment of growth in all areas. Because courage is needed in business - creating that environment will only translate in people speaking up with new ideas, better ways to work and profitable ways to grow. Don't be afraid to step forward and find the answers!
If you would like help doing just that - call us at 310-490-3273.
www.weeehelp.com
workplace ethics, etiquette & education.
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