Don't fight back, fight forward!

By Roseann Kelly MBE, CEO of The WIB Group

Dreadful, but not shocking, the recent scandal at the CBI.
Unfortunately, the CBI are not alone when it comes to great organisations being let down by some men’s toxic behaviour and; weak leadership which turns a blind eye, or even worse covers it up.

Should we let the actions of few destroy an organisations reputation and work, leaving all the people who worked and believed in the organisation gutted and possibly unemployed?



One of the ways to fix this is to support the brave women who came forward, the women who are employed there and the many men within the organisation who also condemn these dreadful behaviours by supporting the organisation to get their house in order, rather than tear it down.

We need to create environments where everyone feels comfortable, actually feels a duty to call bad behaviours out, in particular we need our male colleagues to lead the charge.

The second issue that needs addressed is the cover up. Too many leaders are weak when it comes to this, settling sexual harassment cases with non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), instead of owning the problem and showing how they are dealing with it.

So, to those organisations who have pulled their membership of the CBI, and I completely understand the rationale… I say “Don’t fight back, fight forward”.

Support the CBI, the women and men within the organisation, who have done no wrong, to keep their jobs, to continue their good work and to build a better organisation for the future.

I said at the start that I was not shocked by the CBI scandal, we would all be foolish to think this is an isolated case. It is incumbent on the Boards and leaders of all organisations and businesses to take a good look internally and make sure their house is in order.