"The 'Way' is the strong bond your people have with you. Whether they face certain death or hope to come out alive, they never worry about danger or betrayal." Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu gave five factors that determine success in war, and the very first factor listed is called the "Way," the unspoken bond the leader has with his or her people. Thus, the leader breaking the people's trust in him or her would prove fatal, and few matters break people's trust more than harassment.
Simply put, harassment is the abusing of someone. This is the opposite of strategy, because it is a cruel, selfish, and thoughtless method. Harassment is rash and takes no planning whatsoever. The result would inevitably be devastating, especially for the abused. As Sun Tzu said, "Those angry will be happy again, and those wrathful will be cheerful again, but a destroyed nation cannot exist again, the dead cannot be brought back to life."
Sun Tzu further connects anger with calamity here: "If the general cannot control his temper and sends troops to swarm the walls, one third of them will be killed, and the city will still not be taken. This is the kind of calamity when laying siege to a walled city."
As if that wasn't enough, Sun Tzu clearly sums it up by including anger as one of the five dangerous traits of a general: "He who is quick tempered can be insulted ... [and would be] disastrous in warfare."
Instead, the leader must be "wise, trustworthy, benevolent, brave, and disciplined."
Recently in the news, Harvey Weinstein has served as an example of harassment in the workplace. The consequences for his actions have been his dismissal out of the company he co-founded and expulsion from the Motion Picture Academy, which gives out the Oscars.
Although that all seemed like justice, the fact remains that Weinstein admitted to having sexually abused women for decades, and the consequences didn't transpire until his wrongdoings were exposed in The New York Times.
Anyone who has ever worked for a company in his or her lifetime would likely know firsthand harassment in the workplace, whether it be verbal, racial, sexual, etc.
Most perpetrators are not as famous as Harvey Weinstein, and thus their abuses would never be in the news. What often happens is the incident is reported to the company's Human Resources department (HR) or Legal department where in too many cases it functions as a protector of the company than of the victim reporting the abuse.
Harassment in the workplace is further clouded by otherwise good people who look the other way when harassment happens before their eyes. Perhaps people don't want to jeopardize their own jobs. Maybe they don't feel it's their place to get involved in a conflict between two individuals. Or they think to themselves, "Why bother because things wouldn't change for the better anyway."
After the Weinstein story broke, more people came out to expose individuals who abused their positions or who condoned their behaviors. So it would seem the problem exists, only the timing of us knowing about it is delayed.
Since individual behaviors are difficult to predict and prevent, harassment in the workplace will probably continue in the foreseeable future. However, society's acceptance of such behaviors is something that must stop.
Just because something is common doesn't mean it's right. Just because something has been done in the past doesn't mean it's right. Just because a person is more powerful doesn't mean he or she is right. We must think critically. We must think for ourselves and not depend on others to think for us.
Words of support are beneficial but insufficient. Only actions taken to hold those abusers accountable would make a difference. The difference would be in the number of occurrences and the longevity of those occurrences.
For example, actor George Clooney said after the Weinstein story, "There are a couple of good things that have to come out of this, because something good has to come out of this. One of those things is that victims have to feel safer to come out and tell their stories without the fear of losing their jobs, and they also need to be believed, which is a very important element of this. Also, this should be a shot across the bow that people in places of power cannot abuse that power, and if you do, you’ll be outed publicly, shamed, and even prosecuted ... this isn’t a right or a left issue; this is a moral issue. We’re all going to have to be more diligent about it and look for any warning signs. Before, people weren’t paying enough attention to it. Now we have to. This is the moment to start scaring people like this into not acting this way anymore."
All sounds good, right? It is so good that I agree with everything Clooney stated above. But unfortunately for Clooney, actress Vanessa Marquez, who worked with him during the television show ER in the 1990s, had this in response:
Simply put, harassment is the abusing of someone. This is the opposite of strategy, because it is a cruel, selfish, and thoughtless method. Harassment is rash and takes no planning whatsoever. The result would inevitably be devastating, especially for the abused. As Sun Tzu said, "Those angry will be happy again, and those wrathful will be cheerful again, but a destroyed nation cannot exist again, the dead cannot be brought back to life."
Sun Tzu further connects anger with calamity here: "If the general cannot control his temper and sends troops to swarm the walls, one third of them will be killed, and the city will still not be taken. This is the kind of calamity when laying siege to a walled city."
As if that wasn't enough, Sun Tzu clearly sums it up by including anger as one of the five dangerous traits of a general: "He who is quick tempered can be insulted ... [and would be] disastrous in warfare."
Instead, the leader must be "wise, trustworthy, benevolent, brave, and disciplined."
Recently in the news, Harvey Weinstein has served as an example of harassment in the workplace. The consequences for his actions have been his dismissal out of the company he co-founded and expulsion from the Motion Picture Academy, which gives out the Oscars.
Although that all seemed like justice, the fact remains that Weinstein admitted to having sexually abused women for decades, and the consequences didn't transpire until his wrongdoings were exposed in The New York Times.
Anyone who has ever worked for a company in his or her lifetime would likely know firsthand harassment in the workplace, whether it be verbal, racial, sexual, etc.
Most perpetrators are not as famous as Harvey Weinstein, and thus their abuses would never be in the news. What often happens is the incident is reported to the company's Human Resources department (HR) or Legal department where in too many cases it functions as a protector of the company than of the victim reporting the abuse.
Harassment in the workplace is further clouded by otherwise good people who look the other way when harassment happens before their eyes. Perhaps people don't want to jeopardize their own jobs. Maybe they don't feel it's their place to get involved in a conflict between two individuals. Or they think to themselves, "Why bother because things wouldn't change for the better anyway."
After the Weinstein story broke, more people came out to expose individuals who abused their positions or who condoned their behaviors. So it would seem the problem exists, only the timing of us knowing about it is delayed.
Since individual behaviors are difficult to predict and prevent, harassment in the workplace will probably continue in the foreseeable future. However, society's acceptance of such behaviors is something that must stop.
Just because something is common doesn't mean it's right. Just because something has been done in the past doesn't mean it's right. Just because a person is more powerful doesn't mean he or she is right. We must think critically. We must think for ourselves and not depend on others to think for us.
Words of support are beneficial but insufficient. Only actions taken to hold those abusers accountable would make a difference. The difference would be in the number of occurrences and the longevity of those occurrences.
For example, actor George Clooney said after the Weinstein story, "There are a couple of good things that have to come out of this, because something good has to come out of this. One of those things is that victims have to feel safer to come out and tell their stories without the fear of losing their jobs, and they also need to be believed, which is a very important element of this. Also, this should be a shot across the bow that people in places of power cannot abuse that power, and if you do, you’ll be outed publicly, shamed, and even prosecuted ... this isn’t a right or a left issue; this is a moral issue. We’re all going to have to be more diligent about it and look for any warning signs. Before, people weren’t paying enough attention to it. Now we have to. This is the moment to start scaring people like this into not acting this way anymore."
All sounds good, right? It is so good that I agree with everything Clooney stated above. But unfortunately for Clooney, actress Vanessa Marquez, who worked with him during the television show ER in the 1990s, had this in response:
B.S.Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up abt harassment on ER.'women who dont play the game lose career'I did https://t.co/ur466NCkII
— Ghoul Please ? (@vanessathought) October 10, 2017
Marquez went on to state she has witnessed and/or experienced racial and sexual harassment on the set of ER on a daily basis:
Sexual(pussy grabbing)&racial.Mexican jokes EVERY day.Happened to all the women.They chose 2b victims. I fought! #Blacklisted
— Ghoul Please □ (@vanessathought) October 13, 2017
Clooney subsequently responded, "I had no idea Vanessa was blacklisted. I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career then she was lied to. The fact that I couldn’t affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldn’t."
Like Clooney, I take her at her word as well; I believe her story. What is glaringly missing from Clooney's statement was his lack of denial that such harassment existed on the ER set. Instead, he chose to abstain himself by claiming he was "only an actor."
I asked Marquez for further clarification. According to her, Clooney's role was more active:
I asked Marquez for further clarification. According to her, Clooney's role was more active:
He threatened in private that 'women who don't play game lose their career'He told Wells I wanted money.he had crew- https://t.co/BbZPJQIpvA
— Ghoul Please □ (@vanessathought) October 15, 2017
stop and turn their backs on me when I entered stage 11.He was abt to b Batman so he had power.His finger pointing- https://t.co/BbZPJQIpvA
— Ghoul Please □ (@vanessathought) October 15, 2017
and verbal threat was in itself harassment since he had power and I had none.He asked if I'd reported him as well. https://t.co/BbZPJQIpvA
— Ghoul Please □ (@vanessathought) October 15, 2017
Marquez's claim that Clooney had power (hence, not "only an actor") seems aligned with the immense influence and popularity he enjoyed by the time he departed ER as reported on CNN on February 19, 1999: http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/TV/9902/18/clooney.departure/.
Unless Clooney disputes that no harassment existed on ER, a reasonable person would presume that harassment on the set of ER was at the very least ignored. And ignorance is the direction we as a society must not settle on. We must actively fight against it each and every day.
For employees:
If you see wrongdoing in the workplace, speak up. It is not only moral to do so, but also practical. If the abuser can do it to someone else, he or she can do it to you! Stick together and stick up for each other. Ultimately, even if you were fired due to your speaking up, do you really want to stay and help an immoral company succeed?
For top management:
What kind of company do you want to lead? Even if you succeed financially, would you be proud of what you built, achieved, and later leave behind as your legacy? Sun Tzu advised that a general must treat his soldiers as if they are his beloved children, and they will follow him to the deepest valleys, even to the valley of death. Are you truly doing so in your company? It is the job of leaders to unlock people's potential, because with good leadership, anybody can bring value to any company. But not anybody would bring value to a company that abuses people.
People want to do a good job. Make "Way" for people's success by not being in their way. Only then can we achieve success that lasts.
UPDATE! (October 16, 2017)
Looks like actress Vanessa Marquez has been telling the truth all along. Here is a fellow actress who corroborated her story:
For employees:
If you see wrongdoing in the workplace, speak up. It is not only moral to do so, but also practical. If the abuser can do it to someone else, he or she can do it to you! Stick together and stick up for each other. Ultimately, even if you were fired due to your speaking up, do you really want to stay and help an immoral company succeed?
For top management:
What kind of company do you want to lead? Even if you succeed financially, would you be proud of what you built, achieved, and later leave behind as your legacy? Sun Tzu advised that a general must treat his soldiers as if they are his beloved children, and they will follow him to the deepest valleys, even to the valley of death. Are you truly doing so in your company? It is the job of leaders to unlock people's potential, because with good leadership, anybody can bring value to any company. But not anybody would bring value to a company that abuses people.
People want to do a good job. Make "Way" for people's success by not being in their way. Only then can we achieve success that lasts.
UPDATE! (October 16, 2017)
Looks like actress Vanessa Marquez has been telling the truth all along. Here is a fellow actress who corroborated her story:
TRUTH. Vanessa & I had the same agent then. LaSalle also used racist language toward her. She did complain.
— Chick St Laurent (@chucksandYSL) October 13, 2017
Then she stopped working. https://t.co/6xS1e4tTEn
@vanessathought Girl I ws w/ A/M&A @ the same time.I recall Nancy's PA telling me abt what u were going thu, esp w/LaSalle. SO MANY KNEW! 1/
— Chick St Laurent (@chucksandYSL) October 13, 2017
@vanessathought I am so sorry you went through that, so sorry you weren't supported by WB or your cast and crew 2/
— Chick St Laurent (@chucksandYSL) October 13, 2017
@vanessathought & SO sorry that even us girls, yr actress colleagues - while horrified - thought "shit..business as usual". 3/
— Chick St Laurent (@chucksandYSL) October 13, 2017
@vanessathought Then 2 be told by my agents that you were off ER because you complained! #shame
— Chick St Laurent (@chucksandYSL) October 13, 2017
YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH.
Peace, girl. 4/
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