Much of this season’s news is connected—from the reactions to Disney and Bud Light, to arguments about Florida’s race-based curricular changes to challenges on the US/Mexico border. And in the July 25th Emmett Till monument dedication, President Biden remarked “Silence is Complicity,” adding, “Darkness and denialism can hide much but they erase nothing,” before signing the proclamation. “We can’t just choose to learn what we want to know.” Americans are heeding the call that silence equals compliance, that the unsaid speaks volumes. In recent weeks, the “Stand Up and Speak Out” movement has gained traction in numerous ways and in a variety of different arenas.
Refusing To Hold A knife To The Throat Of Self-Care
The “Stand Up and Speak Out” movement is gaining momentum, not only in politics but in the workplace—even the sports world. Seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles returned to competition this week after the 202o Tokyo Olympics, where she said she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She refused to comply with public pressure to perform because of the twisties—when airborne gymnasts can’t tell up from down. Now, after a two-year break, Biles’s triumphant return to gymnastics competition is marked by a totally different mindset, putting her self-care at the top of the list and winning two first place routines. “We’re still in the working steps,” she told CNN. “I’m continuing to work on myself. I continue to do my therapy. I’m going to put myself first.” Biles joins a long list of athletes from Michael Phelps to Naomi Osaka, refusing to yield to public scorn and prioritizing their mental and physical health over their sport.
“We’ve all seen the increasing mental health struggles among professional athletes and the mental toll they face under the pressures of high-stakes contracts, newfound wealth and the ongoing critique and spotlight that goes with living in the public eye,” says Greg Harden, famed mental coach of Tom Brady and Michael Phelps and author of Stay Sane in an Insane World. He shared with me by email the importance of “how to control the controllables and thrive,” the subtitle to his book. “No one in your life can force you to feel inferior. No one!” he argues. “They can create the conditions that make it more likely you’ll feel that way. They can hit the right buttons that have triggered this response from you in the past. They can coerce, persuade, impose and insist that you feel inferior. But ultimately, it’s your choice. They can’t have that power over you unless you give it to them.”
Silent Complicity In The Workplace
Business coaches also are encouraging these sports principles—speaking out about the dangers of silent complicity in the workplace. According to leadership coach Jerry Colonna, author of Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong, silent complicity contributes to workplace bullying, oppression and authoritarianism. Colonna contends that there are missing voices in the business world among leaders who have “made it” that he calls, “don’t-rock-the-boat-ism.” He contends that these missing voices maintain systems of oppression, arguing, “It’s as if they fear losing what they have, so they won’t speak up for the very things they want to see in the world.”
“How can leaders of all kinds stand up to evil forces,” He asks. “It is urgent that we join forces and press demagogues and politicians who seek to exploit our fears of the other, to question their decency before it’s too late. We risk losing not only our democracy but our humanity,” Colonna remarks. “Consider the line from U.S. history credited with helping to end McCarthyism: Army chief counsel Joseph Welch, who was in a 1954 testimony before Joe McCarthy in Congress asking him, ‘Have you no decency, sir?’”
Remote workers also are part of the “Stand Up And Speak Out” movement, refusing to comply with heavy-handed demands that they return to the office or else. As more companies move to restrict remote options in favor of in-office work, 39% of remote workers say they’d quit if their employer forced a return back to the office. A full 72% of companies say they have mandated office returns, and almost half are reporting a higher level of employee attrition, signaling that there is a stark disconnect between what employees want out of their office and what employers have provided.
“Employees and their supervisors are increasingly finding themselves locked in a stalemate,” Rajesh Varrier, executive vice president at Infosys, told me in an email. “While managers continue to argue for in-office work, workers are questioning how braving commutes and corporate dress codes are supposed to lead to higher productivity.” Showpad conducted a survey and found that 40% of workers are experiencing workplace anxiety, and 65% say it has been triggered by going into the office or engaging in office conversations. The self-proclaiming “lazy girl job” revolution is a satirical way for younger generations to give the finger to critics who label them “lazy.” They are unwilling to take jobs that require them to sacrifice their quality of life because they refuse to succumb to the mental health problems they have observed in generations preceding them.
David Chadwick, CEO of RealResponse, told me by email that the inability for employees to share their concerns, suggestions or complaints without the fear of retaliation from employers is a problem for workers. “By demanding a return to the office, employers are not shooting themselves in the foot necessarily, but they are definitely having to navigate a newfound sensitivity as remote work options are becoming more of an expectation from employees—especially among younger generations who tend to expect employers to adapt to their needs and are becoming less likely to settle,” Chadwick notes. “When Amazon recently announced an in-office mandate which meant long commutes and a lack of flexibility (especially for parents), many employees took to internal Slack channels and expressed their displeasure at the directive, and some even went as far as initiating a petition against the mandate.”
Architect Rebecca Swanner believes there’s a way to avoid attrition when getting employees back to the office. “Offices are no longer a place where employees do their work alone in a cubicle,” Swanner insists. “They are places for connection, socialization and collaboration. Employers should make informed decisions about how their in-person office space is designed to get the most out of their return to office strategies.” She believes leaders should not only source feedback on the in-office experience from their employees, but they must be willing to accept the responses. Swanner insists that employers might have more luck with an “inspire” versus “require” approach to get “Stand Up and Speak Out” employees back to the office. Leaders can partner with workers to create a workplace that inspires a return rather than making it feel like an obligation, she concludes.
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