“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake.” – Lisa Bowman
When employees experience toxic culture and harassment at work, it’s often swept under the rug
Not today.
My special guest is Lisa Bowman, author of Harrasshole: A Cautionary Tale of My Time at America’s Favorite Charity. Lisa bravely shares her story of being an award-winning Chief Marketing Officer in a highly dysfunctional workplace. It takes a lot of courage to call out this type of BS publicly, and Lisa is not afraid to lay it on the line.
I hope this episode may help others who are experiencing the same thing right now.
Thank you Lisa for reaching out and having this conversation.
Click the play button to listen, and don’t forget to subscribe and rate us on Apple Podcasts!
Why people don’t speak up about workplace harassment
What I realized is that when you step up and make some noise about harassment in your workplace, you become the problem.
75% of people that report harassment in the workplace are also subjected to retaliation in the workplace. And that’s why people do not come forward, that’s why they don’t speak up.
Are women supporting other women in the workplace?
Women are talking about supporting women, but they are violating the code of sisterhood because they do not pay attention and they look the other way when something was happening.
And I guarantee you that these women are mentors, champions and sponsors of women’s advocacies and resource groups in the workplace. But when they are informed about a problem at an organization, they completely ignore it.
Why some people do not take up the cause and push it forward
There is still today a shortage of women and women of color in the C-Suite. So if one woman falls just because they spoke out about harassment, there’s a whole line of women behind them waiting to take that seat.
Because of self-preservation, women in higher positions are not willing to take that risk of losing their job to stand up for others, and for me, that’s the wrong thing to do.
Links and Resources
Connect with Lisa: LinkedIn, Twitter
Harasshole: A Cautionary Tale of My Time at America’s Favorite Charity by Lisa Bowman (book)
Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back by Gretchen Carlson (book)
