#MeToo and #NeverAgain!

For many years, the women in my life have given me a priceless gift. My mom, my grandmothers, my aunts, my wife, my colleagues, my friends -- they've all schooled me about themselves and the challenges they face in their lives, their careers, their relationships with both men and other women.

I learned that being a woman in this world is not only hard, it's harder than being a man.

When the Harvey Weinstein scandal exploded, I was not surprised. #Ibelieveyou. I’ve seen too much of the same behavior from others to have any other reaction. I've sat in too many HR meetings as a witness for the aggrieved. I've listened to too many women talk about their own experiences through clenched teeth. But not being surprised by the behavior of Weinstein and others doesn't mean I didn't have another life lesson racing towards me like a freight train.

This past weekend, as the #MeToo hashtag exploded across social channels, I learned even more about just how little I've had to worry about in my life. I learned again how ignorant I still am about the scope and scale of the problems faced by so many of my female friends and colleagues, not to mention the broader universe of women. When I scanned #MeToo globally, including the different language versions, the enormity of the crimes against women broke my heart and stoked the flames of anger.

Heartbreak because no person should have to endure what so many women find commonplace.

Anger because this abuse of power is not just boorish. It’s not just unacceptable. It’s not just a “lapse.” It’s beyond wrong. It’s evil. It’s absolute evidence of the complete moral and ethical bankruptcy in the hearts and minds of so many.

It’s time to take a stand for every woman you know, and those that you don’t. And it’s time to go beyond rhetoric and to say something explicit about what "taking a stand" really means. And as a long-time leader in companies who is now a software CEO, I hope it's obvious that I mean what I'm about to write here. It is not small stuff.

• Paying women and people of color less than you pay men for the same performance is not just an injustice. It's stealing. And because of the power dynamics involved, it is not some sort of burglary – it’s a stick-up. 
• Let your leadership know that you find inequality unacceptable. Let them know that you and your colleagues expect them to fix the problem immediately. This does not require extensive study or some sort of task force. It doesn't require new laws or a Constitutional amendment. It does require the leadership that Marc Benioff displayed a year or so ago at Salesforce. #EqualPay2018
• If you abuse your power to sexually exploit the women around you, there is no practical difference between you and a rapist or a sex trafficker. If this is you, trust me – the people around you know that this is you.
• If you make comments or jokes designed to make women (or anyone else) feel small, or send any woman or person of color on an errand of personal service – “coffee” – you've failed the most important test of leadership: empathy and care for the people around you. Your performance will not protect you. The people above you likely will remove you, not just because your behavior is unacceptable but because you are a massive risk to the company’s employees.

One more thing -- Life is full of principles that are time-proven and universal. Here's one we should all engrave on our souls:

“Whatever has been kept secret will someday be revealed.”

We’ve seen this principle in action time and time again when powerful men act as though they believe they will not be caught. Politics is littered with too many examples to count, but it happens wherever people believe that Privilege conveys Impunity.

The silver lining of these scandals, delivered through the courageous reaction of so many women, is that all of these deadly secrets are being exposed for all to see.

#MeToo gives all of us a new opportunity to say #NeverAgain to the evil that lurks in our societies, our homes, our workplaces, and ourselves.

Do it now.

Shout a resounding Never Again! in whatever language you speak.

Then, with resolve in your heart, do as Martin Luther King Jr. once exhorted:

“Rise up! Rise up! Rise up!”