New York

October 15–17, 2025

Berlin

November 3–4, 2025

Harassers are nice to me

Sarah Milstein looks at techniques for surfacing and addressing bad behaviour in the workplace.

Speakers: Sarah Milstein

Register or log in to access this video

Create an account to access our free engineering leadership content, free online events and to receive our weekly email newsletter. We will also keep you up to date with LeadDev events.

Register with google

We have linked your account and just need a few more details to complete your registration:

Terms and conditions

 

 

Enter your email address to reset your password.

 

A link has been emailed to you - check your inbox.



Don't have an account? Click here to register
January 23, 2022

In any organization, there will be people who behave inappropriately, sometimes grievously so. Here’s the paradox: the more senior the role you’re in, and the more power you have to help coworkers who are facing awful behavior like harassment or bullying, the less likely you are to see those things.

Personally, when I was younger and in junior roles, I dealt with harassment all the time. Now? I rarely see it directly. That’s not because it happens less now. Instead, it’s because harassment and bullying are functions of power, and people who behave in those ways tend to perceive me as having relative power. So they’re generally very, very nice to me. If you’re in a position of power–say, as a manager or tech lead–they’re probably very nice to you, too. So how can you become aware of harassment and bullying that happens when you’re not in the room? And what can you do about it? This talk will look at techniques for surfacing and addressing bad behavior.