Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2006

TAKE A STAND AND GIVE A HELPING HAND

There is a famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemolloer:

“In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I was not a Communist.  Then they came for the Jews and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.  They came for the Catholics and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

Too many times we hear, “Don’t get involved, it’s none of our business.”  “That’s not my problem.”  “As long as it does not affect me, why put myself at risk.” 

I think in many cases we honestly believe someone else will take care of it and we simply continue on with our lives.  Many of us subscribe to the N.I.M.B.Y. (Not In My Back Yard) Theory.  The unfortunate thing is that everything is in our back yard.  We live in a global village and what affects others can and will affect us in time.  Too many times we remain silent and then wonder how things are the way they are. 

The problem is also that many of us do not really believe that we can make a difference.  Studies have shown that bullying incidences are reduced when peers stand up against the bully.  Crack houses move if neighbours make it clear to the sellers that dugs are not welcome in this neighborhood.

As we begin 2006 we are at a turning point in society.  Gun violence is on the rise and more and more people feel marginalized.  We need to realize that we are individually in control of the direction society takes.  I sit on many committees and I am very public in my politics, but I hear too many 2%ers doing nothing but complaining about how someone else should clean up the mess that they believe we are in.  But what I rarely hear is someone who has a suggested solution.  Or, someone who is willing to stand up and take a vocal, public position on something that they are passionate about.

It is time to take action; time to stand up for what you believe in.  There is an old saying that consists of 10 words with 2 letters in each word:

If it is to be, it is up to me.

That is pretty simple and frankly easy to put into practice.  When was the last time you picked up a piece of paper on the street as you were out for a walk?  When was the last time that you volunteered for some social agency?  When was the last time you wrote a letter to the editor on an important social or political issue?  When was the last time that you went to a public meeting in your neighbourhood?

These are only a few ways that you can stand up and get involved.  Believe it or not, how this world, this country and your neighbourhood affects you is totally up to you.  You can either give up or you can stand up and take control of your environment.

I had a sociology professor tell a class I was in that we are all part of history because everyday we contribute to that history.  Why not stand up and be on the right side of history instead of lying down and letting this journey of life run you over.

The choice is clear…the choice is yours.

Ted

FACT:

Voter turnout in the 2004 election was lower than in any national election since 1867.

At 60.5 per cent, that means that only about 13.5 million of the roughly 22.3 million eligible Canadians bothered to exercise their right to choose who they want to govern. 

ON JANUARY 23 – VOTE!

SIDEBAR – FOUND TREASURE

By Pierre R. Ouellette Hon.B.A., LL.B.

As many of you know, we at The Mouradian Group specialize in workplace relations and have developed a particular expertise in dealing with bullying in the workplace. In the course of this type of consultation we have been reluctant to categorize the various types of bullies as there are simply so many variations. But someone who has done just this is Dr. Gary Namie of California and I thought it might prove interesting to share some of his descriptions with you.

Namie talks about several different types of bullies. One of the more insidious types is one he refers to as the “Two-Headed Snake”. He describes this individual as one who slithers up the organizational chart of a company. This bully reserves their brutality for those below them while being ingratiating to those above. They do so by defaming the reputation of their targets in order to boost their own self-image. Part of their strategy is to spread rumours and engineer ‘divide and conquer’ schemes within work groups in order to turn co-workers against the victim.

Add in the fact that an abused worker typically suffers in silence for an average of 22 months then you can readily see how devastating this brand of bullying can be to a person. When an abused worker finally works up enough nerve to complain they are too often met with a boss who has been listening to this two-faced bully’s version of events for weeks on end! So it is the bully who is believed and the victim’s version is simply discounted or dismissed.

The Mouradian Model for Cooperative Action© is designed to avoid these types of situations. It does so by teaching people how to assert themselves early as well as demonstrate how to deal with all of these bullying tactics.

To find out how we can help you or your organization please browse our website:

www.CooperativeAction.com

To subscribe to THE CARAVAN please send an email with your name and email to Info@CooperativeAction.com and type SUBSCRIBE TO CARAVAN as the subject.