Whistle Blowing Requires Wisdom, Not Just Courage

The first time I heard the word “whistleblowing” was not from the news or real life instance. It was from an old Korean drama series I saw some time ago. At the time, I never thought that a single storyline could leave such a lasting impression on how I started to view truth, courage, and the power of consequences after.

I watched this woman who had given her best years to a company, helped the company achieve so much. She actually earned her place through hard work but only to discover that the company was secretly involved in fraudulent activities that were harming innocent people. I admired her decision to speak up, but not what followed after.

After her report to authorities outside the company about the act, I remember how I was wishing she should have kept quiet. It's not because the act was right, but the consequences felt too heavy for one person to carry. Her life played out in ways that were regretful to watch. From isolation, attack to eventually losing her life.

Even though the company did eventually collapsed as it was charged guilty of the corruption, it felt like a cruel justice to me. Yes, evil was exposed, truth prevailed but why did it had to be at the cost of the whistle blower's life?

Growing up as a Christian, it has always been taught that we should expose evil and praise good as it is the right thing to do. The same Bible that encourages standing for what is just also reminds us to be “Wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” That wisdom is rarely connected to whistle blowing but it shouldn't be.

When it comes to Whistle blowing, a lot is said about the bravery and morality in the action, but not much is said about the survival. Whistle blowing shouldn't be just an act of truth, it is also an act that can permanently alter a person’s life.

Even though not every whistleblower loses their life like in the kdrama I saw, many lose something that feels just as heavy. Some is their careers, their reputation and many of them become unemployable in the same industry as they are considered “difficult” or “disloyal.” Even though they are right, society quietly distances itself.

So the question becomes is, sould that stop someone from standing for what is right? Ideally and morally, no it shouldn't. But practically, it is not that simple and it must be considered very carefully before the action is carried out. I'll bring in Bible words here again (Be wise & harmless).

Whistleblowing a company means you are challenging power, bringing down reputation, costing them to lose money, and their influence, it's disruptive by nature. So it's important to not do it falsely, maybe out of bitterness or contempt, that would be evil. This is why you consider wise thoughts must come before you take the action.

The worse part is going out to expose the wrongdoing of an organization or company without thinking of what the outcome could be and maybe preparing for the consequences, that would be carelessness. A whistleblower should think carefully about how and who to report to, then know the protections in place before action.

This is where authorities and institutions come in. If whistleblowing is something society claims to value, then there has to be policies on ground to protect those who decide to take the risk. They should have access to hiding their identity if they want to, legal and mental support. Also provide systems to figure out genuine whistle blowers.

I'll conclude by adding that companies should have the right to defend themselves against false accusations, legal consequences are fair for false whistle blowers but if a company is found guilty, the whistleblower should not be punished but instead be praised for speaking the truth.