Scenario: Inappropriate thoughts or know your audience?

Group Size: 4-15

Scenario

Lieutenant-Colonel (LCol) Morton is leading a team meeting with his subordinate leadership group. All four managers are men: two are Department of National Defence (DND) employees and two are Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members.

He brings up the topic of the new employee, a trainer, who will be joining the section. “She is going to be a great ambassador for our work,” he says. “She is easy on the eyes, and she knows it! When the boys take her training sessions, they will listen to her every word.”

Two of the men glance briefly at each other but say nothing. They walk down the hall together after the meeting.

“You know, maybe that was in bad taste, but he’s not wrong,” says Kevin Robert. “She is very attractive and that will give her an edge when she is trying to engage members on this topic. She won the job competition fair and square. I don’t even think she would have any issues with what the boss just said, based on my conversations with her.”

Categories

• Principles: Respect the Dignity of all Persons
• Values: Excellence, Integrity
• Cultural themes: Leadership, Teamwork
• Misconduct types: Sexual Misconduct 
• GBA Plus themes: Gender
• Audience: Defence Team

Facilitator’s Guide

Learning Objectives

• Discuss how opinions of a sexual nature, and about a co-worker, are inappropriate in the workplace.
• Observe how sexism can be as subtle as expressing a passing thought. Although it won’t necessarily lead to unsolicited physical advances, it is demeaning and unacceptable in a modern work environment.This is known as a type of micro-aggression.

Facilitation Questions

1. What is the problem in this scenario?
   • Open group discussion.
2. What are the facts? What are the assumptions?
   • Open group discussion.
   • Do the facts or assumptions change if the new hire was a man and LCol Morton was a woman?
3. What are the obvious courses of action (COAs)? Are there other possible COAs?
   • Open group discussion.
4. Which principles, values and results are at play for each option, including the option to do nothing?
   • Open group discussion.
   • Discuss the ethical principle of “Respect the Dignity of all Persons.”
   • Discuss teamwork and inclusion in relation to this scenario.
   • Discuss leadership in relation to this scenario.
   • Discuss sexual misconduct at work.
5. In the end, do you think it was wrong for LCol Morton to comment on the physical attractiveness of the new hire as an asset that will help ensure what she says gets attention? Why?
   • Open group discussion.
   • Discuss with reference to Defence Ethics, the military ethos, and relevant policies.
6. Discuss what negative impacts this could have on the new hire. How will this impact her psychologically, emotionally, and physically? How will this impact her perception of the organization and her safety within it?
   • Put yourself in someone else's shoes. Use empathy to explore how seemingly small comments can have a big negative impact.