Speaker B presents a four-zone model for workplace behavior: Unconscious, Uncomfortable, Avoidant, and Upstander. The first step to becoming an upstander is assessing whether a bystander culture exists by observing workplace conversations, relationships, and dynamics from a third-party perspective.
Chapters
What are some of those sort of bystander behaviours and tendencies that we need to start shifting and changing?
Wow. Yeah, look, step 1 is to assess whether you have got a bystander culture in your workplace. And one of the models I've developed in the book is I realise that people typically fall into 4 categories in the workplace. The first one is unconscious, where we're caught up in our everyday doing more, being more, achieving more. We're actually unconscious of how our words and language and behaviors affect others, especially if we're suffering ourselves. We can actually be kind of negligent, or, you know, we can behave in a certain way that we don't actually know that our words are influencing others. Or you've got people that are so consumed with their ego, and like was just mentioned, climbing the corporate ladders, they kind of take no prisoners, and they're unconscious, and they just you know, self-serving and egotistical. And the second zone really is uncomfortable, where people are aware of what's happening, yet haven't got the capability or know how to help people. And the third zone in the bystander zone is avoidant, so people are unconscious, uncomfortable, or avoidant. And then the fourth zone is being an upstander. So the first step really is for people to have a look at the book and assess, right, where is my workplace and where do I sit with regards to the bystander versus upstander zone. And from there, then you can establish some steps to being an upstander. And I've got 5 steps in the book which really unpack how to be an upstander. And the first one is— they're very simple, but the things we forget to do. The first one is to look around your environment, scan your environment from a third-party perspective, and observe some of the conversations relationship interactions and dynamics to the workplace? Are people feeling comfortable, open and receptive to share their authentic truth? Do you personally feel comfortable to actually ask for help? So by observing the environment, that's the first step in understanding is it toxic or, you know, warm, inviting and accepting.
