Bullying in the workplace and being an upstander (with Jessica Hickman)

The People & Culture Podcast with James Judge

In this month's episode I'm talking to Jessica Hickman about her new book, The Upstander Leader, and what she is doing to help build capability in leaders and organisations to stop and prevent bullying. She also shares some of the personal journey she went through that brought her to this field.

In the conversation we explore the bystander effect and how it's a key contributor to toxic cultures. We also talk about the work she does to help move people from what she describes as the 'bystander zone' to becoming upstanders. We look at how good leadership is also a key component in creating positive workplace cultures and what factors are at play to sometimes unconsciously make people bystander.

Jess has also identified specific upstander traits and outlines 5 critical steps that people can take to develop themselves as upstander leaders. Among these is a commitment to learning and moving from a fixed to a growth mindset. There is also a discussion of replacing authority with influence and why that's increasingly important.

Interestingly she positions love as one of the critical leadership values, at times a difficult conversation to have in some of the male dominated industries she has and continues to work with.

- You can find out more about her website & book at Jessica Hickman.

- Additional resources and help on Bullying are here Bullyology – Break the silence on bullying.

- The online course she has developed is here Upstand Academy by Jessica Hickman

I hope you find the conversation informative (I could listen to a Welsh accent all day, but that's probably immaterial to most of you).

All reviews and comments welcome.