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“NCMP Donna Do Right & Ouny….”
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2018/06 - June
I have an inner Dudley Do-right. If Snidely Whiplash so much as sneezes his evil spores my way, I hop on Horse, backwards, of course, then by gum and by golly, I’m off to right a wrong. Let’s review my tattle-tale past: I ratted out my cousin when she was smoking and drinking at age 8. She still hates me. I reported a teacher who was compromising kids. The principal treated me like a snitch. I squealed on sexual abuse of a minor and, believe it or not, got fired for it. Dudley isn’t always appreciated.
Note the epithets I used – tattle-tale, rat, snitch, squealer. We learn early on that the kids, often bullies, who do wrong are going to retaliate if they’re turned in. They can make life miserable for the whistleblowers. Snidelys use shameful names like “weasel” or “narc” to keep would-be tattlers in check. In 2013 NPR ran an interview with Shankar Vedantam entitled, “Why Do Whistleblowers Become Whistleblowers?” He said there are two theories. One, there are natural-born heroes. They see a wrong and are compelled to right it. They’re the Dudleys. Two, the responsibility falls on management to enforce ethical leadership.
The University of Michigan made a survey of 30,000 people. One out of five workers reported workplace violations. But only half of those followed up by saying anything. Digging deeper, the researcher discovered that even though those respondents had e t h i – cal leadership, they’d be much more likely to report corrupt management than corrupt peers. So they ran a management/ co-worker experiment with prize money for the winning team.
Vedantam said, “When the coworkers were largely ethical, two-thirds of the volunteers reported that there was a problem. When the coworkers were unethical, only one-third of the volunteers spoke up.” He concluded that 20-25 percent of people do the right thing. A majority middle is influenced by peers. The remainder are the few who lack moral leadership and act without regard for others.
Food for thought in these unsettling times. The #MeToo Movement has set the stage for ethical leadership.
Rise up and ride out, Dudley! (And maybe we’ll forgive you for your movie.)
