Abuse of power is unacceptable

by Margot Cairnes

Recently I worked with a client who had been the victim of sexual harassment. This normally confident, assertive woman, a senior executive in a major corporation, had fallen to pieces. She suffered from stomach pain and burst into tears at the drop of a hat. She had difficulty making decisions she would normally have made in an instant. Meeting her harasser every day made it impossible for her to go to work. So she resigned.

The actual harassment was not dissimilar to something I had experienced some years ago. My response to the incident, however, was markedly different. I found it instructive to review why.

A few years ago I accompanied a woman in distress to a railway station. It was late at night.

As we waited, a man in his late twenties, obviously mentally limited, came up and asked me to marry him. When I jokingly refused he dropped his trousers. Concerned for the already suffering woman beside me, I told him to "put that thing away" and threatened to call the police unless he behaved himself.

My client had suffered a similar embarrassment. The difference was her flasher wasn't a simpleton but her boss - a man supposedly of high intelligence and some standing in the community.

The key difference in our experiences was about power and breach of trust. The man at the railway station had no power over me and there was no breach of trust. The woman's boss, by contrast, was abusing his position of power over his employee and breaching the trust necessary in any employer/employee relationship.

Also, highlighting the issue of power, it was the employee - the victim - who left. The executive was not fired. His power had allowed him to abuse with impunity. I wonder if lack of consequence will encourage him to harass someone else, and what messages will be sent across the organisation. While everyone is working hard to keep the incident under wraps, people aren't fools - they will work out that something has happened and pick up the vibes on some level. What level of integrity, trust and relationship can that organisation expect in the future?

Sexual harassment needs to be dealt with swiftly and effectively when it happens. Yet, the secret is to do whatever is possible to prevent it from happening in the first place.
 

Copyright ã Margot Cairnes

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Margot Cairnes

Margot Cairnes is an international leadership strategist. She delivers exceptional results through a unique approach to identifying and solving the issues facing organizations at times of great change, particularly implementing mergers and acquisitions. In addition to major change problems Margot acts as a mentor to leaders of global, commercial organizations. This confidential service provides a safe forum for leaders to explore the issues and beliefs that create and limit their success. You can visit Margot Cairnes web site at http://www.MargotCairnes.com or e-mail her at: cmuzard@changedynamic.com