Matt Paknis Leadership Development

"Hope is the conviction something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.... "The salvation of the world lies in the human heart...... "We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality." - Václav Havel #hope #conviction #salvation #human #heart #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #possible #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #reality

"Strong people don't put others down. They lift them up." — Michael P. Watson "Bullies target individuals for being different. Despite what they do or say, it is your right to be who you are." — Eleanor Roosevelt "Insecure people only eclipse your sun because they're jealous of your day." — Unknown #lift #rights #light #shine #excel #talent #inspire #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #dignity #freedom  

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt "Bullying is a distinctive sign of low self-esteem in the bully." - Ziad K. Abdelnour "Don't let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It's your life, not theirs." - Roy T. Bennett "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein #Efficacy #power #autonomy #sprit #strength #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #RiseUp #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #NeverGiveUp  Constant belittling makes bullied employees feel unworthy of better treatment, and trapped! Their damaged self is caused by, and empowers, a bullying boss who continues to attempt to control with abuse and harassment. #LeadersArentBullies

 

"We should be partners, not rivals" and aiming to "lengthen the list of cooperation and shorten the list of issues....... Everything here is down to the highest order of perfection.” - Xi Jinping “We have a friendship built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people; whenever we had a problem we worked it out very quickly...... Chinese restaurants in America today outnumber the five largest fast food chains in the United States, all combined. That’s a pretty big statement." - Donald Trump #partners #cooperation #respect #peace #food #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #elevate #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #STEPUP

"Bad managers "try to catch employees doing things wrong" to manufacture a constant state of anxiety, keeping workers off-balance and compliant." - Ken Blanchard “Criticism only controls you if you allow it to.” - Mark Manson #recognize #appreciate #setupforsuccess #win #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #accomplish #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #Confidence

The Book Corporate America Spent 5 Years Trying to Censor—And Lost! Toray Plastics America completely surrendered—dismissing the case with prejudice and being ordered to pay 100% of my legal expenses while I signed nothing and the book remained the same! "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light..... There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." - George Washington "Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away." - Elvis Healthy leadership and unyielding integrity outlast toxic intimidation.

"A great culture is not just one aspect of the business—it is the business." - Herb Kelleher  "There's no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated." - Richard Branson  #culture #values #beliefs #behaviors #focus #LeadersArentBullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #teamwork #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #trust  Dysfunctional workplaces are characterized by unclear goals, roles, processes, no enforcement of respectful rules of engagement and appropriate boundaries, and a lack of commitment to employee growth and development.  This dysfunction nurtures supervisory bullying.

Serial pedophiles who molest boys assault, on average, over 100 victims.  Childhood molestation is akin to soul murder.  "I wish I'd done more (to protect the boys from Sandusky)." - Joe Paterno (But he still deserves a room dedicated to his ability to bully and to turn away?) "To all who suffered from my shortcomings, I apologize and beg for forgiveness." - Cardinal Law (But he still deserves a cushy Vatican retirement?) "I am sorry and devastated there were times when we failed the children we were supposed to protect." - Jim Turley, BSA Chairman (But they still encouraged their attorneys to further abuse their victims.) Although their responses to torture and assault are comparable, how are Hitler and the Third Reich remembered?

"Cold shoulders are used to make you feel invisible and powerless.” — Dr. Ramani  “Bullies isolate. They fear your voice, your truth, and allies who defend you.” — Unknown “Silence is the chosen weapon of the coward. It inflicts pain without leaving visible scars.” — Unknown #beseen #bepowerful #SpeakUp #truth #allies #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #courage #psycholigicalsafetyatworkact #strength

 

"Bullies are always terrified of the truth because it strips them of their manufactured power." - Unknown "Bullies are like fires—they need fuel to burn, and that fuel is your fear, your silence, and your compliance. Starve them with objective reality." - Unknown #truth #power #facts #observations #reality #LeadersArentBullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #rational #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #TruthToPower  Bullies always find ways to leverage their perceived power gap to an advantage. Call them out and challenge their fantasies with facts and observations.

"Laws are like spiderwebs, which catch the small flies and let the wasps and hornets break through."(A classic critique showing that legal systems often function to entangle the weak and defenseless while serving the powerful.) - Jonathan Swift "An unjust judge poisons the entire legal foundation of the commonwealth." - sir Francis Bacon "In most cases, it is the judicial apparatchiks, much more than those they prosecute, who belong behind bars." - Stephen Baskerville "There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice." - Montesquieu "Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined."(Addressing SLAPP suits, where corporations initiate baseless, costly litigation against ordinary citizens to silence public scrutiny and exhaust their personal resources.) - Judge J. Nicholas Colabella #justice #law #freedomofspeech #FairTrial...

"Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.... I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man." - George Washington “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power....   Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” - Abraham Lincoln #truth #light #virtue #honesty #character #prevail #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #power #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #friends

"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid." - Jim Rohn “Speak softly and carry a big stick—you will go far.”- Theodore Roosevelt "Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke." Benjamin Disraeli  "Empty vessels make the most sound." - Proverb #strong #kind #bold #thoughtful #courageous #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #stealth #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #poise

“Conflicts of interest arise when you're sneaky and shady about it, when you're not transparent about it. If you tell everyone, 'Here's what's going on. Here's the process; here are the people that are playing a role'—that's being transparent.”— Sean Spicer "Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect any who seek it." - Frank Herbert "Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power." - John Steinbeck #ConflictOfInterest #transparency #integrity #leadersarentbullies #HealthyWorkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #character #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #justice

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson "A corporation has no soul... but a corporate dollar has more power than a human heart." - Robert Green Ingersoll "There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship. When the corporate state controls the government, the legal system becomes an instrument of corporate power rather than a shield for human rights." - Ralph Nader #strength #soul #heart #citizenship #humanrights  #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #constitution Life, liberty, the pursuit of #happiness...it’s all sabotaged and manipulated to bestow power and happiness on the few, the misguided, when the bad guys (and girls) are in charge. #LeadersArentBullies

"Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins..... Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are." - Benjamin Franklin  #freedom #speech #FairTrial #justice #outrage #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psycholigicalsafetyatworkact #truth

 

"No legacy is so rich as honesty." - William Shakespeare  "Sincerity makes the very least person to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite." - Charles Spurgeon "The time is always right to do what is right." - Martin Luther King, Jr. “Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.” - Nelson Mandela #honesty #sincerity #integrity #humility #good #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #truth  #AUTHENTICITY #psychologicalsafetyatworkact

  "The silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most... has made it possible for evil to triumph." - Haile Selassie “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom." - Atticus Finch "Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice." - Henry Louis Gates #justice #FairTrial #freedomofspeech #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #truth #psycholigicalsafetyatworkact #nevergiveup

When employees do not have clear goals, roles, or processes, and bosses hold these workers accountable for arbitrary and unrealistic results, tensions run high and conflict, scapegoating, and trust issues multiply. Quality and production suffer. #LeadersArentBullies

"Peace begins with a smile.... The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.... If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." - Mother Teresa  #peace #prayer #faith #love #belong #smile #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #reach #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #start #give

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” -- Eleanor Roosevelt “Emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.” -- Daniel Goleman “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” -- James 1:19 #emotions #SelfAwareness #relationships #listen #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #respond #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #2ears1mouth

  Toray Plastics used The RI Federal Justice System to bully me with a frivolous lawsuit. They ultimately dismissed, with prejudice, and paid all my fees. I signed nothing. The book stayed the same.  It took 8 years and caused great damage.   "Anyone can be falsely accused of a crime. Everyone accused of a crime deserves a fair trial." - John Garamendi "Any restriction of freedom of speech is a restriction upon democracy." - Deeyah Khan #FairTrial #FreeSpeech #dismissed #justice #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #freedom

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” -- Albert Einstein “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy.” - Nelson Mandela  #peace #understanding #dialogue #work #desire #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #freedom #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #collective

 

“My self-worth is not linked to your cruel words and actions... You have no power over me.” — Marina Cohen “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” – Desmond Tutu “Bullies are cowards, and if you stand up to them, they back away.” -- Robert P. Georg #power #justice #intervene #courage #standup #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #protect #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #maturity

"Nothing ranks higher than judicial independence. Without it, the trial is a sham, the judgment a pretense, and the law a weapon." — Lord Denning "In our system, money talks, and big money talks loudly. The judiciary ceases to be an independent branch and becomes a subsidiary of corporate interests."— Sheldon Whitehouse #FairTrial #justice #independence #integrity #leadersarentbullies #HealthyWorkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #honor #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #character

"The most prevalent problem was the failure of the leadership to protect the children. It was a failure of the leadership to act, a failure to report, a failure to intervene."— Louis Freeh (PSU) "Institutions have a natural tendency to protect themselves, and when they do, the first casualty is often the truth."— Spotlight (Boston Diocese) "The BSA’s primary response to reports of sexual abuse was to protect the organization’s reputation and assets, rather than to protect the youth in its care."— BSA perversion files "Silencing the victim is the ultimate act of complicity. It transforms an isolated crime into an institutional policy."— Dr. Janja Lalich "The culture of secrecy that surrounded these schools allowed abusers to operate with impunity, while victims were left with the crushing burden of forced silence."— IICSA (Private Schools) "We were told to keep it quiet for the good of the church, for the good of the community, for ...

"Honesty is the best policy..... I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct, which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent.... The freedom of Speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter." - George Washington #Honesty #rolemodel #freedom #speech #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #dignity

“Systems of oppression (racism, sexual abuse, war, domestic violence) are ways of maintaining power for certain people at the expense of others.” - Alicia Garza "You survive when you don't repeat the cycle, but you thrive when you create a new legacy and trajectory." - Nedra Glover Tawwab “I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” - Carl Jung #power #uplift #choose #liberty #thrive #build #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #truth #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #freedom #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #justice

“The predator wants your silence. It feeds their power, entitlement AND they want it to feed your shame....To the predators... Weinstein, etc... I say to you, 'You can choose your sin but you don't get to choose the consequences.' To the victims... I see you. I believe you... and I'm listening." - Viola Davis "Giraffes are completely tranquil - they have no predators as adults because there's not an animal in the jungle stupid enough to go for them. - Joanna Lumley #power #consequence #tranquility #Intervene #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #justice #psycholigicalsafetyatworkact #poise  Bullying is a very durable behavioral style, largely because bullies learn early it can get them what they want if no one intervenes and calls them out. Respond, report, and normalize stopping abuse by not giving it tacit approval, but with strong resistance in numbers and protocol.

 

"Civilisation will not last, freedom will not survive, peace will not be kept, unless a very large majority of mankind unite together to defend them... There will remain the greater task of directing knowledge lastingly towards the purpose of peace and human good." - Winston Churchill #civilization #freedom #peace #unite #goodness #leadersarentbullies ##healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #liberty #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #dignity

Had a little extra lifting (50-60 lbs.) on the way home from the gym today.  Helped a massive snapper momma cross a street and gain access to a fenced in pond to lay her eggs.  Always lift them by the tail.  My 2nd snapper rescue.  The other weighed between 70 and 80 pounds!  It's a calling!

"There are two things people want more than sex and money — recognition and praise." – Mary Kay Ash "People work for money, but go the extra mile for recognition, praise, and rewards." – Dale Carnegie #retention #recognition #challenge #money #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #praise #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #rewards  8% leave for more challenging work.  7% leave for more money, but if they feel recognized, respected, empowered, and challenged, they will only leave for a significant, 20-30% or more, pay increase.  Satisfied employees stay.

"We are in an era of very aggressive corporate litigation to expand the constitutional prerogatives of business." - Kent Greenfield "Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." - Benjamin Franklin "Every institution, including the judiciary, has its share of black sheep and corrupt judges." – Prashant Bhushan #truth #rights #constitution #freedom #liberty #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #HONOR #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #justice #8years

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.” - Nelson Mandela  “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” - Desmond Tutu #peace #sport #talent #teamwork #respect #healthyworkplaces #leadersarentbullies #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #Grace #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #character  “Aggression can be the wrong way to use and to obtain power. There are collaborative, respectful, multi-sum, demanding, co-equal, assertive, and wonderful ways to be leaders without being aggressive,” says Debra Pepler, Ph.D.

  "I Have A Dream.... little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," - Martin Luther King, Jr. "Almost always, the oppressed, instead of striving for collective liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors, or 'sub-oppressors.'" - Paulo Freire "Sports can create hope, where there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all kinds of discrimination." - Kofi Annan #join #liberty #hope #sport #unify #play #love #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #talent #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #Respect

The root cause of workplace bullying is the bully's great fear of being exposed as an incompetent fraud. Talented people often trigger incompetent and insecure employees who are in over their heads / bad fits / bad hires. "The cure for workplace bullying and the imposter syndrome is not more self-esteem. It’s competence."— Anonymous #competence #confidence #PeterPrinciple #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #talent #psychologicalsafetyatworkact #selfawareness

 

"A great person is always willing to be little." — Ralph Waldo Emerson "Insecurity is loud. Confidence is quiet. True leadership is calm, steady, and secure in its purpose." — Unknown "Do not let other's behavior destroy your inner peace." — Dalai Lama #greatness #confidence #calm #steady #secure #leadersarentbullies #healthyworkplaces #leaderselevatethoughtandconduct #peace ##psychologicalsafetyatworkact #maturity  Bullies target gifted and decent people whose talent and goodness infuriates the bully. A bully's greatest fear is being seen in comparison as an incompetent fraud. Bullies loathe, and are frustrated with, themselves. They attack people who trigger this fear and self hate.