Matt Paknis Leadership Development

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