At a conference on Wednesday 5th December Simon Squibb the entrepreneur and influencer gave me some personal advice about setting up a business that made me spiral – Your Purpose is to Solve Workplace Bullying!
I was at the Thrive Live 25 conference and he was a keynote speaker with his good friend Dan Murray🧠, Angel Investor and co-founder of Heights. When it came to asking Simon a question after this incredible session the spellbound audience went quiet and nobody raised their hand.
So I did. I have recently been made redundant and have been considering my options, including setting up my own business after nearly 30yrs in learning and talent development. I have done this before, and built apps on the App Store but in the age of AI was wondering where I could put my attention, so I asked his advice.
He asked my name, looked right at me, and asked me to imagine it was just me and him in the room. Then what I can only describe as him peering deep inside my soul, he asked;
In your career what has been your biggest pain point?
Without thinking or hesitation I heard myself say ‘Workplace Bullying’.
I was in a bit of trance and those people that know me would be shocked as I’m not what you’d call the well-being guy! TBH I was as shocked as anyone. It was a deep and powerful moment and one which I will never forget.
Before I knew it though, he pointed right at me and said,
“There is your business, there is your purpose, you could help people.”
He then turned to the audience and asked if anyone would be interested in talking to me about solving workplace bullying.
Nearly the whole room put their hand up, 300 people.
I couldn’t speak, emotion welled up in my eyes and to my horror and amazement I realised this was something other people had experienced and would like to solve too. After all my umming and ahhhing about what to do next, there it was, plain as day, my purpose.
It didn’t stop there of-course, afterwards people wanted to share their story with me, offer their support, suggestions, help, but what shocked me even more was how much pain this caused people and how little we talk about it openly. What is worse is the individuals affected truly believe it is their fault and so keep quiet, or silently quit.
I do not know where this will go, I do not know how to fix workplace bullying and I do not know what will happen next. All I know is that if you feel like I do and agree that workplace bullying is worth solving then please comment, share, and react. I believe we can figure the rest out as we go along!
Your Voice Matters
This is Day 0 of building something called “Solving Workplace Bullying” as part of building something like a consulting practice. But I can’t solve this alone.
If anything I’ve shared resonates with you—whether you’ve experienced workplace bullying, witnessed it, or struggled to address it in your organization—please comment, get in touch, or leave a message. Your experiences will shape this work.
Responses