Are you a wrongdoer, a bystander or an upstander (Photo: Pixabay) Business leader Angélique Parisot-Potter, in a TEDx talk, offers three lessons on how one can stand up for what is right.
“The sin of omission is a failure to do what you know is right. When you stay quiet, although you are not guilty of wrongdoing yourself, what will you have to live with if you don’t take action? So, who are you in the lineup of actors? We don’t want to see a wrongdoer or a bystander, but an upstander when we look into the mirror.”
“I have learnt three things: Don’t second guess yourself. When you see something amiss, ask questions because it is okay to challenge the authority. Don’t be complicit. You always have the power to say no in the face of wrongdoing. Be an upstander. Speaking up is not about being brave. It is not about not feeling scared. But when you do what you know is right, you can be at peace with yourself. It is hard to say what you feel in the moment. Do it anyway. Be fearless.”
Martin Luther King had said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”. So when you look in the mirror, who will you see? A bystander, a keeper of open secrets, or will the person looking back at you be an upstander?
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