Category Archives: General Info

School Yard Bullying. Workplace Harassment. What’s the Connection?

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Late last year I wrote a blog on the macroeconomics of gay bullying, arguing that not only are individual children harmed by bullying, but our entire country and our economic system suffer as well. When kids are bullied in school, whether LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) or for any other reason, they often react by engaging in destructive behavior including turning to drugs and alcohol, and dropping out of school. This in the long term harms our country within the competitive global marketplace.

And now I am in good company. Earlier this month, I was very pleased to see our nation’s president, Barack Obama even address this as a critical national issue. (Link to newspaper article.) This article states that 13 million children a year are bullied, which puts them at much greater risk of falling behind in school and engaging in destructive behavior. President Obama highlighted the need to “dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless right of passage or an inevitable part of growing up. It’s not.”

Laura and Kirk Smalley weep in the background while listening to President Obama talk about their family's tragedy. Their 11-year-old son shot himself after being bullied at school.

But let’s take the next step. What happens with the bullies when their bullying is not addressed? They often can grow up and become bullies in corporate America. There is a fancy Human Resources term for this bullying in the extreme – it is called harassment. There are laws as well as corporate policies against harassment. But the bullying can be more subtle and take forms such as employee intimidation and threats of job loss or promotion blocking. This greatly threatens employee productivity as they operate from a sphere of fear instead of freely being able to offer their best to their businesses. Corporations really need to address all forms of employee bullying, blatant and subtle, if they hope to build the highest performing team. A fully inclusive and executed diversity policy that creates a welcoming environment for everyone coupled with “zero tolerance” of any form of workplace harassment, bullying or intimidation will maximize employee job satisfaction, loyalty and productivity.

Thanks to Katie Gailes of SmartMoves International who provided some ideas and inspiration for this blog entry.

The end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Part 2 – Now What?

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In last week’s blog, I hailed the repeal of the US Military’s “Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell” policy which occurred late last year. The US Congress, which voted to repeal this policy, finally understands what most major US businesses have long ago understood – that the most successful enterprises will have no barriers to entry, which allows the best talent from the widest possible pool can be considered.

So now gay men and women can enlist in the US military and be open about who they are. Now what? Is the work over? Certainly not! There is a lot of hard work ahead! After we are able to add GLBT talent to the US military, we need to work hard to keep them there and working at their peak capacity.

First, solid training will be required from the top of the US military through to every service member. Everyone needs to be taught to refrain from GLBT offensive behavior, including crude GL BT slurs and jokes. And then people need to learn how to best address and include GLBT people in every day interaction – including using more inclusive language like “spouse” and “partner” in addition to “husband” and “wife.” The culture needs to become one that is welcoming and nurturing to all so that every member of the team can contribute their best. A recent Associated Press article already stated that the US Army has started this training and hope to have it completed by every Army member by August.

Next, many of the military programs need to be examined for full inclusivity. Areas could include the provision of “married housing” to same-gender couples and support structures for spouses of service members.

And finally, this could then have ramifications on the military’s thousands of suppliers of products and services, especially since many of the suppliers interact directly with military personnel. For those suppliers who have not fully embraced total inclusivity of GLBT people, education and change implementation will be required.

I stand ready as a consultant with my leadership experience in one the world’s leading GLBT-inclusive companies to assist our military and their suppliers in any way I can.