A conversation I had this week sparked a memory for me that got me thinking. How we are treated in the workplace has a profound impact on not only us as individuals but more widely on overall organisational culture. I heard someone say they missed working in the office and being able to lead with fear to get work done “cos after all, sh!t rolls downhill” this was from someone in a senior leadership role in a public sector organisation and hearing that philosophy to leadership really triggered something within me!
It took me back to a time in my career while working in hospitality, when I was treated in such a way that the result was that I had no self-esteem and the situation impacted my mental heath so significantly I began suffering with panic attacks and depression which meant I was prescribed medication to help lift me back out of a very dark hole.
I was in my early 20’s at the time and managing a large team, in what was then, a popular Brighton cocktail bar and restaurant. The leadership approach was very much to lead through fear as the belief was that if all the staff were terrified of the business owners they wouldn’t slip up and they’d deliver the level of service that was expected in such an establishment. Even at that early stage of my career I wasn’t prepared to follow suit, and I realise now that it was in this role that I learned to build a level of resilience in order to shoulder challenges and deal with issues rather than pushing things down through my team creating a ripple effect of fear. Taking an approach of supportiveness, and fostering a team culture in which everyone has each others back to get the job done. I have a deep value that bullying in the workplace is utterly unacceptable and when I discover someone has been reduced to tears by the way they’ve been treated I will not tolerate it, and I often feel compelled to intervene and offer some level of support.
It means a lot to me to never allow anyone I work with to end up in the situation I did. This is something I now realise I’ve learned to do subconsciously and it’s become part of the person I am. I’ve always been a believer that every experience we have in life contributes to shaping the people we are and that particular stage in my life certainly shaped me and the leader I am today. So I actually have a sense of gratitude for that period in my life, while it was incredibly painful at the time, it gave me a strength that I am now grateful to have as well as opportunity to learn coping mechanisms to develop my resilience.
My thoughts about how we behave in the workplace were further compounded as I’ve just finished reading Wolfpack by Abby Wambach. Abby is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup champion, and in her book Wolfpack Abby sets out an empowering rallying cry for women to claim their individual power and unite their Pack with eight new rules to leadership. While the focus of the books eight rules is very much aligned to empowering women, many of the rules can apply to us all. The areas that stood out to me were:
- Champion each other
- Bring It All, Lead with humanity
- Life is not meant to be lived as a Lone Wolf. We all need a Pack.
Reading this book connected with me especially when reflecting back on my own experiences and how they’ve brought me to the place I’m at today.
Essentially there’s no reason why we can’t all treat one another with respect, compassion and humility and the notion of leadership being connected to traditional hierarchy should be obliterated in the workplace in my opinion. We all need our pack and we all lead together, and it’s together that we achieve so much more!
It’s my dream to contribute to creating workplaces in which people thrive, this is work that has real meaning and purpose to me.
What’s your career dream and how are you bringing it to life?
DREAM BIG : BELIEVE BIGGER
If you want to find out more about Abby and her book Wolfpack, you can here:
DREAM BIG : BELIEVE BIGGER 
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