Welcome to the 303rd episode of the award-winning Diverse Minds podcast! In this episode, I’m exploring why professional courage is dead. Followed by a critical question: what do people do when they witness unethical behaviour at work but fear the consequences?
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In today’s show on Why Professional Courage is Dead
- 01:25 – What counts as unethical behaviour: fraud, bullying, discrimination, conflicts of interest, and more.
- 02:49 – Defining professional courage through whistleblowing, challenging authority, and ethical decision-making.
- 04:37 – Challenging authority and advocating for diversity and inclusion in practice.
- 06:36 – Relevant survey data from Culture Shift on whether UK employees speak up or not.
- 14:15 – Why professional courage matters long-term for wellbeing and organisational sustainability.
Quotes on Why Professional Courage is Dead
- We can do all the training in the world, but if the environment is still very negative, it’s not going to be possible to speak up.
- It’s much easier, I feel, for people to be nasty and rude and get away with it than it is for positive, kind, accountable behaviour to be held up as a positive way to do things.
- Professional courage is an interesting topic that we don’t talk about enough in the workplace, and it can be very difficult to do, nigh on impossible if you’re a lone voice.
- Whistleblowing is the act of exposing wrongdoing within an organisation to safeguard public interest.
- It’s not easy to confront a peer who said something racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic or transphobic, especially if the workplace environment is very emotionally immature.
Resources for Why Professional Courage is Dead.
- Read about the Theranos whistleblowers: Tyler Shultz and Erika Cheung
- Learn about Boeing whistleblower Curtis Eubank
- Read my blog: Speaking out about workplace bullying
- Episode #11: Bullying and harassment in the workplace: what you can do about it.
- Episode #302: Why do HR Leaders Stay Silent When Things Get Toxic?
- Episode #267: How to Handle Gatekeepers
- Episode #245: What is Psychological Safety at Work?
- Episode #63: Anti-bullying initiatives that work
- Join my Mailing List and receive a white paper on mental health and inclusion here
- Check out my TEDx talk: The Connection between Culture, Race and Mental Health
- Leave me a message on my SpeakPipe
Work with me
Have a look at my online work-life balance course on Thinkific. You can access it here: http://bit.ly/DMMHPONC
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Remember to tune in next week, where I’ll bring you more insights on mental health and inclusion.
