We all deserve to have a day at work without having the fear of God put into us. Which is why one of the most striking recent examples of “a bad day at the office” remains alarmingly fresh in my memory, almost two months on.
“Say what you mean,” snapped Vladimir Putin at Sergei Naryshkin, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief, at a security council meeting in February, 36 hours before the invasion of Ukraine. Putin taunted him: “Say yes or no”. Naryshkin squirmed. The exchange ended: “You can sit down now”. Whether you are a beleaguered IT manager or a top spy chief, these are words no one ever wants to hear. The 90-second video has 17mn views on YouTube.
The video surely went viral because that “get-me-out-of-here” feeling is something we aim to avoid at work at all costs. That moment represents a choice. You suck it up and keep your job. Or you stand up for yourself and risk the sack. Sometimes it’s an easy decision. We are silent and compliant and we tolerate the fear because we are pragmatic. Other times, the choice symbolises something huge. “Is this really the person I want to be?” We speak up because we’ve had enough.