Rising political and cultural tensions are undeniable. But just as there remain political leaders with convictions, ethics and compliance consultant Lisa Schor Babin says corporate leaders need to understand that now is the time to screw their courage to the sticking place.
Political rhetoric and dog whistling are not newcomers to the national scene. What is new and, frankly, frightening is that angry people and disenfranchised, marginalized and otherwise fragile individuals are taking misguided cues from this language of our leaders as their personal call to action.
What’s more, their threats and acts of violence target people doing their jobs to protect the rights, health, well-being and values of this country. Consider the Jan. 6 riot, attacks against the FBI and its agents following its search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, an assassination plot against U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, threats and lawsuits against an Indiana physician and the recent near-fatal stabbing of author Salman Rushdie.
The dangerous power of political rhetoric
While the perpetrators are being held to account for these egregious attacks and threats, let this fact not distract us from the culpability of this country’s leadership and the rhetoric delegitimizing our institutions,…
