Jackie O’s spectacular resignation should be an inspiration to us all

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Have you ever wondered what would happen if a microphone were installed inside your workplace? What might a small device in the corner of your office overhear if it captured every heated conversation, misinterpreted comment and back-and-forth between you and your colleagues?

Well, we’ve now seen the dramatic effect after on-air mics captured every word of the interaction that led to the explosion of the Kyle & Jackie O show. In a surprise twist, nobody expected it would be one half of the most successful radio duo in Australian history who would be holding the grenade and pulling the pin.

The final on-air conversation between Kyle Sandilands and Jackie Henderson, or Jackie O, had all the hallmarks of workplace bullying, specifically gaslighting. This is a pattern of behaviour where someone repeatedly undermines a colleague’s perception of events, making them doubt their own reality and targeting their sense of self.

In the uncomfortable recordings, Sandilands threw out sweeping statements (“you’re not doing the rest of the job, and everyone in this building has mentioned it to me”) and then refused to give any specific examples even after his co-host denied his claims.

When Henderson started crying and her voice receded – both clear signs of emotional distress – Sandilands returned to his trademark belittling and trivialising. “I’m not sure if she’s asleep or not. She looks asleep,” he commented to his offsiders, before returning his target across the desk. “What are you doing? The ‘woe is me’? I dared say something to you because I think it’s a problem.”

One of the key ingredients of a healthy workplace is psychological safety, or the belief that anyone can speak up.

ARN took it so seriously that it disclosed to the ASX on Tuesday that it considered that was “an act of serious misconduct”, or corporate-speak for this being more than just a typical personality clash.

Being able to hear unfiltered and raw conversations has been one of the elements that’s made the Kyle & Jackie O show so popular over the past two decades. Ironically, it’s the same element that’s brought on its downfall.

Conflict is amplified by various factors, including how much trust you have with the other party and how aligned your values are. Both of these foundations have been eroding between the pair for years.

You can hear their trust collapse in real-time when Sandilands reveals he’s been talking to “everyone” about Henderson’s performance behind her back. And her clear misalignment of values screams out when she replies: “I would never say things like that about you … I think it’s mean, and I think it’s nasty.”

When trust is low and your values are different, conflict takes place amid a minefield of emotions where every step has the potential to cause more harm. This is a sadly common scenario for workers across all industries.

Data from Australian employee experience platform Culture Amp found that 21 per cent of employees have experienced bullying at work in the past six months. “Workplace bullying is usually less visible than harassment or violence,” its chief people officer Justin Angsuwat says, “but it’s more prevalent and just as damaging to culture and performance.”

Toxic workplaces can easily engulf your life, affecting your mental health, relationships, confidence, physical health and the ability to do your job each day.

One of the key ingredients of a healthy workplace is psychological safety, or the belief that anyone can speak up, take risks and suggest new ideas without fear of humiliation or punishment. The simple truth is that Henderson’s own show became too psychologically unsafe for her to continue.

So she did what many people who might find themselves in a similar situation wish they might someday do: she walked into her manager’s office and she quit. In the process, she set fire to a potential $80 million in future earnings over the next eight years of her contract. That’s how powerfully destructive a bad working environment can be for the person at the centre of it.

Of course, we can endlessly debate that Henderson could – and should – have done this years ago, but it still doesn’t diminish the courage it takes to stand up to a workplace bully.

And for choosing the difficult path, despite all the messy unknowns that it comes with, Henderson should be applauded.

Tim Duggan is author of Work Backwards: The Revolutionary Method to Work Smarter and Live Better. He writes a regular newsletter at timduggan.substack.com