Matt Paknis Leadership Development

"As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others." - Marianne Williamson "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." - Robert Louis Stevenson #leadersarentbullies #healthworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"The effects of unresolved trauma can be devastating. It can affect our outlook on life. It can take a toll on our family life and interpersonal relationships. It can trigger  physical pain, symptoms, disease, and a range of self-destructive behaviors." - Peter A. Levine #Stepup #healthworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Employees claim harassment and bullying at work, on a personal and micro-level, is a more crippling and devastating problem than all other work-related stressors combined. #LeadersArentBullies

"Someone who has experienced trauma also has gifts to offer all of us - in their depth, their knowledge of our universal vulnerability, and their experience of the power of compassion." - Sharon Salzberg "Delusional (mental and emotional) pain hurts just as much as pain from actual (physical)  trauma. So what if it's all in your head?" - Octavia E. Butler #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort." - Paul J. Meyer "A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge." - Peter Drucker #healthyworkplaces #StepUP #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Workplace bullying in the United States costs organizations as much as $14K per employee per year in lost performance. #LeadersArentBullies

"To increase our objectivity, we must learn to switch off the mini-movies. Objectivity requires us to be mindful, present in the moment, and experiencing what is happening without judgment." - Elizabeth Thornton "Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance." - Plato #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact  

"Unresolved trauma can be devastating. It can affect our habits and outlook on life, leading to addictions and poor decision-making. It can take a toll on relationships and trigger physical pain and disease. It also may lead self-destructive behaviors."  - Peter A. Levine #Stepup #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact The emotional and physiological damage induced by workplace bullying extracts a significant human cost, with obvious financial losses in the form of sickness, turnover, vandalism, violence, absenteeism. and ill will. #LeadersArentBullies

"The best way to begin genuine bipartisanship to make America stronger is to work together on the real crises facing our country, not to manufacture an artificial crisis to serve a special interest agenda out of touch with the needs of Americans." - John F. Kerry "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." - H. P. Lovecraft #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Behavior is the mirror where everyone shows their image (values and beliefs)." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "The fact is that people are good, Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior." - Abraham Maslow "Most bad behavior comes from insecurity." - Debra Winger #healthyworkplaces #stepup #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Organizational culture reflects workers' shared values and beliefs, and how they influence accepted behaviors about how things get accomplished. Organizational bullying may be tolerated as part of the “way things have always been done.” Demand change! #LeadersArentBullies

"If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost." - Barack Obama "The right of each individual in any relation to secure to (themselves) the full benefits of (their) intelligence, (their) capacity, (their) industry and skill are among the inalienable inheritances of humanity." - Leland Stanford #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Relationships feed on credibility, honesty, and consistency." - Scott Borchetta "Between stimulus and response  is our power to choose a response. In response is our growth and freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl "Heroism often results as a response to extreme events." - James Geary #healthyworkplaces #stepup #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Having a credible and effective method for managing complaints and intervening in #bullying cases inhibits aggressive, bullying behaviors and reduces defenseless target anxiety. #LeadersArentBullies

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe." - Gail Devers #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out.  This is your country / democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on." - Thurgood Marshall "People protect what they love." - Jacques Yves Cousteau "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Leonardo da Vinci #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Bullying prevails due to organizational tolerance. 95% of respondents in one  workplace bullying study administered by UNISON, claimed that bullying was caused by the fact that “bullies can get away with it” and “victims are too scared to report it.” https://x.com/mattpaknis/status/1715514910262669780?t=hka1L35SeAy6f0pWYDHUOA&s=09

"(People) have fallen victim to seduction since times immemorial." - Vikram Bhatt "It has been said that (humans) are rational animals. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this." - Bertrand Russell "Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values." - Joshua L. Liebman #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people." - John D. Rockefeller "Confidence comes from discipline and training." - Robert Kiyosaki #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #Stepup #Psychologicalsafetyatworkact In toxic and bullying work environments, supervisory training is nearly nonexistent. No budget. No time. Few good skills taught. On the #jobtraining instead of consistent, uniform, and assessed job skill development is haphazard and transmits bad habits. #LeadersArentBullies

"I have always learned more from rejection and failure than from acceptance and success." - Henry Rollins "I have learned not to allow rejection to move me." - Cicely Tyson "I believe that rejection is a blessing because it's the universe's way of telling you that there's something better out there." - Michelle Phan #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"The mob is the mother of tyrants." - Diogenes "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Edmund Burke #healthyworkplaces , #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Bullies derive most of their support from HR. It's a club, a clique, a veritable wagon  train that defensively circles the wagons when one of their “own” is accused. #LeadersArentBullies

"The world is not fair, and often fools, cowards, liars and the selfish hide in high places." - Bryant H. McGill 'Honesty is of God and dishonesty of the devil; the devil was a liar from the beginning." - Joseph B. Wirthlin #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

""Nepotism will never give you success, but talent can." - Ashok Saraf "Believers if opt to practice Favoritism will fail miserably to build a relationship of Mutual Trust & True Respect for themselves." - Santosh Thankachan #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #stepup #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Everyone is afraid to confront “the golden” bully, the boss’s favorite. HR misapplies the tools of traditional conflict resolution (i.e., mediation, arbitration, intervention). If HR acts, it’s always the wrong solution for the actual problem when the "chosen" one is involved.

"No matter how grandiose, how well-planned, how apparently foolproof of an evil plan, the inherent sinfulness will by definition rebound upon its instigators." - Neil Gaiman "Often times the public school teachers are ridiculed or they are made to feel inferior but this is really undeserved." - Peter Agre #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

Please Click Here To Listen to My Psychological Safety at Work Testimony. Thank you. If you or someone you know would like to share your workplace abuse story in support of the Massachusetts Psychological Safety at Work Act, please  submit written testimony to: JointCommittee.LaborandWorkforceDevelopment@malegislature.gov by Tuesday, October 17th at 5pm EST and to visit WPSAct.org for more info. #EndWorkplaceAbuse "Civility is the recognition that all people have dignity that's inherent to their person, no matter their religion, race, gender, sexuality, or ability." - Opal Tometi "The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none." - Charles Dickens #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact My private clients and public audiences agree: workplace aggression—that is, abusive supervision, bullying, repeated and belittling and demeaning comments, incivilit

"Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht "At (their) best, (humans are) the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice (they are) the worst." - Aristotle #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." - Richard Bach "The best teamwork comes from people who are working independently toward one goal in unison." - James Cash Penney #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Thriving families & teams, per 30 years of client input, share these traits: love, #communication, common & clear goals, support, coaching, encouragement, safety, trust, elevation, clear roles and boundaries, responsibility, commitment, a sense of team, accountability, and more

"I'm okay if everything is honest and truthful and relatable. If it's fabricated and ill-motived, it's not good." - Katy Perry "There's strong data that, within companies, the No. 1 reason for ethical violations is the pressure to meet expectations, sometimes unrealistic expectations." - Stephen Covey #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

“The fish stinks from the head.” This ancient proverb speaks to the role of leadership in creating a dysfunctional and untrustworthy organization. If the employee is not trustworthy, it is because the manager or leader has failed to build trust. #healthyworkplaces #Stepup #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact  Collusion creates a culture of spiraling incivility, causing employees to believe their entire organization, and not just the bully, disrespects its employees. #LeadersArentBullies

"Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice." - Desmond Tutu "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"To be silent is to be complicit." - Richard Edelman "I have always and will always stand on behalf of justice and do not condone oppression in any form." - Tony Evans #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #Stepup #psychologicalsafetyatworkact Bullying continues only in organizations where it is tolerated. Workplace harassment, discrimination, abuse, and bullying are only repeated in organizations where complicit senior managers and executives condone abusive behaviors. #LeadersArentBullies

"Never give up. People will always discount you, and you'll always get rejected. But set your sights high. Be boldly ambitious. Be relentless and never give up." - Reshma Saujani "A culture of intimidation has no justification in any administration." - John Barrasso #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #StepUp #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." - Desmond Tutu "Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on." - Thurgood Marshall #healthyworkplaces #StepUp #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #psychologicalsafetyatworkact When a bully is a high performer or key talent in an organization, any anti-bullying protocol may be overlooked while targets are blamed and become scapegoats. This keeps the bully from being held accountable and reinforces the bully’s destructive behaviors. #LeadersArentBullies

"Trust not too much to appearances." - Virgil "Transparency, honesty, kindness, good stewardship, even humor, work in businesses at all times." - John Gerzema #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #StepUp #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

"Courage is grace under pressure." - Ernest Hemingway "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl #healthyworkplaces #Stepup #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct  #psychologicalsafetyatworkact An untrained and ill prepared supervisor may also bully when reacting to intense performance pressure, even if that pressure does not come in the form of bullying. #LeadersArentBullies  

"Empathy begins with understanding life from another person's perspective. Nobody has an objective experience of reality. It's all through our own individual prisms." - Sterling K. Brown "Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships." - Travis Bradberry #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #StepUp #psychologicalsafetyayworkact