The Whistleblower's Journey
Exploring the Challenges, Perils, and Rewards of Confronting Wrongdoing Within Organizations
To believe in something and not live it is dishonest.
Mahatma Gandhi
The challenges of speaking truth to power have always been difficult. With the increasing consolidation of work enterprises under corporate identities, and the unchecked power these entities have in running their businesses, the potential for corporate engagement in unethical and illegal behavior has exponentially increased. And the more such corporate power is supported by state authorities, the more harm will result.
“[The whistleblower manifests a] willingness to rebel from the expected norms, rules, and silent contracts of establishment … The whistleblower … reveals a shared complicity … ‘I expect more from myself and from you.’ And in that stance, the pain becomes, in a sense, communal.”
― Toko-pa Turner, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home
Most people who have acquired a moral code in the course of their adult development want to belong to an organization that also abides by an organizational moral code, one they both embrace.
When that code is violated, some individuals feel compelled to confront that deviation. They do so for various reasons but almost universal amongst them is that they feel it is their duty to do right by holding the organization accountable in the same way that the organization would hold each of its members accountable.
Some organizations are receptive to this feedback. Many, if not most, are not. And what results is a clash that takes on increasingly macabre forms of harm to the whistleblower. And, ignoring the substance of the whistleblower's primary concerns almost invariably results in harm being done to others by that organization, and ultimately to the organization's viability.
As many know, the whistleblower’s journey is one I’m quite familiar with and have spent considerable time researching and reflecting on. Now, more than ten years from the initial act of blowing the whistle, I am still making sense of it. Whether fortunate or not, it led me to another whistleblower juncture, calling attention to the role of powers in the occupational licensing field to funnel people into involuntary “fitness for duty” examinations on the basis of anonymous complaints to which you’re not able to respond or challenge. In other words, the equivalent of outpatient psychiatric civil commitments done under duress with no due process protections customarily afforded those in the ordinary (non-professional work) world.
As the co-founder of the Speak Up Academy (imagine!) and an open webinar series we started called “Speak Up Voices,” we decided to enlarge the dialog about speaking up.
I’m excited to announce the launch of a twice-monthly series with FBI whistleblower Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, a veteran of the whistleblower's journey. Initially Fred and I will explore aspects of the whistleblower’s experience such as who blows the whistle and why and what happens. And we’ll entertain commentary and Q&A from participants live and on camera if they’d like. And in subsequent gatherings, we’ll have featured guests from around the world who’ll share their experiences in speaking truth to power and the lessons they've learned.
The initial webinar is scheduled for Wed, 3 Mar 2021 @ 9 am EST. However, as this interferes with our regular Wed. 9am EST Speak Up Academy Cafe (members only), we'll be exploring an optimal recurring day and time to accommodate the widest diversity of potential participants.
Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/SUV__WhistleblowersJourney
In each 90 minute session, the initial segment (~ 45 minutes) will be Fred and I - with or without a named guest - having a conversation about this phenomenon we refer to as whistleblowing. The latter 30 minute segment (beginning at the top of the hour) will be reserved for live interactive dialog with our audience. Participants who wish to come onto the stage via their webcam and mic will be invited.
Based on our previous experiences with this novel format using the interactive Demio webinar platform, this series promises to be highly engaging. We look forward to your joining us.
The humanities teach us the value, even for business, of criticism and dissent. When there's a culture of going along to get along, where whistleblowers are discouraged, bad things happen and businesses implode.
Martha C. Nussbaum