Jessica HickmanThought Leader | TEDx Speaker | 2 x Author | Leadership

Do you ever witness someone at work being bullied?

Name: Do you ever witness someone at work being bullied?
Uploaded: 2023-02-16T21:22:33+00:00
Duration: 1 min 38 s
Channel: Jessica Hickman
Description: In this personal testimonial, the speaker recounts their experience of severe workplace bullying that eroded their confidence and self‑esteem. They…

16 Feb 2023 · 2 min

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1:38

In this personal testimonial, the speaker recounts their experience of severe workplace bullying that eroded their confidence and self‑esteem. They describe how a colleague’s direct, compassionate conversation—grounded in the "Advance as an Upstander" methodology—acknowledged the abuse, pointed them to the company's internal bullying policies, and suggested contacting the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). This intervention helped the speaker recognize that the problem was not personal, empowered them to review policies, and ultimately led them to call the EAP and seek mental‑health support. The speaker emphasizes that simple, empathetic sign‑posting can be life‑saving and encourages others to act as upstanders rather than remain silent.

Chapters

If you're being bullied and you haven't gone through, you know, the methodology and picked up the book, you know, Advance as an Upstander, the one thing I say to people is that conversation can save a life. And simply, when I was suffering bullying, I felt so alone. I was made— my confidence was, and my self-esteem was beat down to the point that I was made to believe it was me. The way I was operating, you know, was I, you know, being too flirty as I was told because I was caring for people. So like I was really self-conscious about the words, how I look. So one day a colleague came to me and said, hey, I seen what happened in that meeting today and that's not acceptable. Have you ever thought about calling the EAP, Employee Assistance Programme? Because I've really noticed, you know, you're not yourself. 'But also, have you ever looked on the website, the internal website, to look at bullying and harassment? I've observed it and I think this is happening to you.' That moment of someone acknowledging my suffering but also letting me know that it wasn't about me potentially saved my life, when I was in a really, really dark space. And that then led me to, you know, build the confidence, look at the policies and procedures, but also call the EAP number and for the first time seek mental health and so Look, it can be as simple as shining a light in the right direction, and you don't have to have all the answers, but signposting someone to get help is the biggest support you can do.