How to be an upstander instead of a bystander | Angélique Parisot-Potter

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs

翻译人员: TED Translators Admin 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

Let me tell you a story, where you'll meet the characters

我想讲一个故事，

故事中的主人公是 比拉尔和布伦达。

who I'll call Bilal and Brenda.

I was working in a most remarkable part of the world.

我在世界上一个 最不寻常的地方工作。

一个普普通通的早晨，

And one unremarkable morning,

a colleague came to see me.

一个同事来看我。

She told me that Bilal, one of our senior executives,

她告诉我，我们的 一名高级管理人员比拉尔

had been telling everyone I was being removed

一直在四处宣扬，我要被解雇了，

because I'd been messing with the wrong people.

因为我惹错了人。

And now, I was going to face the consequences.

现在，我要承担相应的后果。

I wasn't alarmed,

我丝毫没有感到惊慌，

because I knew I had done what I'd been hired to do:

因为我知道， 我只是做了我该做的事：

my job,

我的工作，

dealing with thorny issues head on

就是处理棘手的事务，

and leaving no stone unturned.

掀开每一块石头， 仔细查看，不留死角。

In fact, in the months prior to this,

事实上，在此之前的几个月里，

we'd overturned more than just a few stones.

我们不仅仅是掀开了 几块石头而已。

Those details are for another time.

具体的细节就不详述了。

I called my husband, James,

我打电话给我丈夫詹姆斯，

to tell him about this bizarre conversation,

告诉了他这次奇怪的谈话，

and with what proved to be great foresight,

他很有远见地说，

he said, "Angélique, pack your things and call Brenda, in that order."

“安琪莉可，赶快收拾好 你的东西，给布伦达打电话。”

I called Brenda.

我给布伦达打了电话。

I'd worked with her for a number of years,

我和她共事多年，

and I trusted her.

我很信任她。

She was the person who'd recommended me for that job.

她是推荐我做那份工作的人。

I cut to the chase,

我开门见山，

because my husband's reaction made me realize

因为我丈夫的反应让我意识到，

this was more than just the usual stuff I'd encountered before.

这绝不是一次普通的事件。

And I say usual, but in that moment of clarity,

我说普通，但就在那一刻，

it dawned on me what James had already recognized:

我明白了， 詹姆斯已经意识到了什么：

none of this was usual.

这些都很不寻常。

These irregularities, part of a pattern I'd failed to notice,

我现在才意识到，这些非常规的、 我没有注意到的模式的一部分，

were what I now know as open secrets

早已是公开的秘密，

living beneath those proverbial stones I'd had the audacity to overturn.

它们就隐藏在那些众所周知的， 我曾试图大胆掀开的石头下面。

To my shock, I learned that this was happening

令我震惊的是， 我了解到，发生这种情况

because I hadn't tried hard enough to operate in the "gray space."

是因为我没有足够努力 尝试在“灰色地带”游走。

I didn't seem to know when to kick things into the long grass.

那时的我似乎并不知道什么时候 要把某些东西踢到草丛里去。

And I didn't understand that this was how the system worked.

那时的我也不明白， 这个系统就是这样运作的。

The message, the implied threat,

这条信息，其隐含的威胁，

was clear.

是非常明确的。

Over the next few weeks,

在接下来的几周里，

I was replaced by a convenient yes-man while I was still there.

当我还在职的时候， 就被一个唯唯诺诺的人取代了。

I suffered from terrible gastritis,

除了要忍受严重的胃炎，

and I pretended to our two young daughters

我还要对两个年幼的女儿假装

that I still had that job.

自己仍然在做那份工作。

Leaving home every morning, dressed up as if for work,

六个月来，我每天早上出门时 都会穿得像是要去上班，

to drop them to school, for six months.

再照常送她们去学校。

I did not submit,

我没有屈服，

but I won't pretend that it was easy to speak up

但我不会假装 把这些说出来很容易，

or beneficial in any way to me, to my family or to my career.

或者对我、我的家庭 或我的事业有任何好处。

When we speak up in the workplace despite policies to the contrary,

当我们在工作场所 不顾政策的反对而大胆发声时，

whilst we may not lose our jobs,

虽然我们可能不会失去工作，

但我们很可能会失去 同事之间的友情——

we are likely to lose the camaraderie of our coworkers.

Disbelieved, ostracized,

不被信任，不被接纳，

faced with under-the-radar bullying.

面对有针对性的欺凌——

You know the kind when you walk into a room and everyone stops talking?

就是当你进入一个房间， 大家就都不再说话的那种感觉。

We think: It's not my responsibility to say anything.

我们普遍认为： 我并没有义务去说出什么。

So why did I choose to act despite the risks to my family and to me?

那么，为什么我选择不顾自己 和家人安慰而执意这样做呢？

The sin of omission is a failure to do what you know is right.

疏忽的罪过， 就是没有做你认为正确的事。

When you stay quiet,

当你保持沉默时，

even though you're not guilty of wrongdoing yourself,

即使你自己没有做错事，

what will you have to live with if you don't take action?

但如果不采取行动， 你将不得不面对什么？

So who are you in this lineup of actors?

那么在这个故事中， 你扮演着谁的角色？

The bad actor, the wrongdoer?

是那个反面角色，做坏事的人？

The bad stander who benefits directly or indirectly

是那个直接或间接受益、

充当反面角色傀儡的同谋？

and acts as a puppet for the bad actor?

The bystander, aware of the open secrets

是旁观者—— 早已熟知这些公开的秘密，

but not actually doing anything wrong or the upstander?

却始终无动于衷？ 还是做一个挺身而出的勇者？

This is the person we want to see when we look in the mirror.

这就是在照镜子时， 我们想看到的人。

I've learned three things:

我学到了三件事。

One, don't second guess yourself.

第一，不要怀疑自己。

When you see something amiss, ask questions,

当你发现事情不对劲的时候， 要大胆质疑，

because it is okay to challenge those in authority.

因为挑战当权者是可以接受的。

Two, don't be complicit.

二、不要与人同流合污，

You always have the power to say no in the face of wrongdoing.

面对错误的行为， 你总是有权说不。

And three, be an upstander.

第三，必要的时候，挺身而出。

Speaking up is not about being brave.

大胆发声，不代表无所畏惧，

It's not about not feeling scared.

不代表心中不感到害怕。

But when you do what you know is right, you can be at peace with yourself.

而是当你做你认为对的事情时， 你可以平静地面对自己。

Yes, it is hard to say what you feel in the moment.

是的，你可能很难形容 自己此刻的感受。

Do it anyway. Be fearless.

但无论如何，都要行动起来， 无所畏惧。

Martin Luther King said,

马丁·路德·金曾经说过，

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,

“最终，我们记住的 将不是敌人说了什么，

but the silence of our friends."

而是朋友的沉默。”

So when you look in the mirror,

所以当你照镜子的时候，

who will you see?

你会看到谁？

A bystander, keeper of open secrets?

一个旁观者？ 一个公开秘密的守护者？

Or will the person looking back at you be an upstander?

还是一个愿意挺身而出的人？

I know who I see.

我知道我看到了谁，

I know who my daughters see.

也知道我的女儿看见了谁。

The choice is yours.

选择权，就在你的手里。