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.
