I love reading media stories that connect to my work. Unfortunately, many focus on the harm and the silence of others. However, one story made me smile and allowed me to look at what helps to motivate action as opposed to inhibiting it. It involves a shark called Bukangi and unity.
Something quite wonderful is happening around the story of Bukangi, the dusky shark stranded in a canal in South Korea. What began as concern for an animal in an unusual and vulnerable situation has captured people’s imagination and brought people together through a shared desire to help.
I have been following the story, and what strikes me most is not simply the concern for Bukangi herself. It is the sense of unity that has emerged around her. People from different backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives, have found something they can care about together. The story has created a shared purpose, encouraged people to pay attention and inspired some to take practical action.
It has got me thinking about active bystandership and a question that sits at the heart of my work: How do we create the same sense of collective responsibility when the person who needs help is a fellow human being experiencing harm?
Unity Creates A Sense Of Shared Responsibility
One of the greatest barriers to active bystandership is the belief that somebody else will do something. We see behaviour that makes us uncomfortable. A colleague is humiliated in a meeting. Someone makes a derogatory comment. A person is being bullied, excluded or treated unfairly. We recognise that something isn’t right, but we hesitate.
Perhaps we assume a manager will intervene.
Perhaps we look around to see what others are doing. Or
Perhaps we convince ourselves that it isn’t our responsibility.
This is where the psychology of the bystander becomes important. When several people witness an incident, responsibility can become diluted. Each person may assume that someone else will act. But unity offers us another possibility. When we see ourselves as members of a community with shared values and responsibilities, our thinking can change. We move from seeing the situation as somebody else’s problem to recognising that we have a collective interest in what happens next. Instead of asking, “Why should I get involved?”, we begin asking, “What can I do to help?”
That shift matters. It transforms active bystandership from an individual act of courage into an expression of collective identity.
We Look To Others To Understand What Is Acceptable
Human beings are social creatures. We pay attention to the behaviour of those around us to help us understand what is expected, accepted and appropriate. When nobody challenges a harmful comment, silence can be interpreted as approval. When colleagues laugh at a humiliating joke, others may conclude that joining in is the safest option.
When a team repeatedly ignores poor behaviour, that behaviour can gradually become part of its culture. The opposite is also true. When people see colleagues challenging inappropriate behaviour, supporting those affected and demonstrating that dignity matters, they receive a different message. People like us speak up.
This is the power of social norms. We are influenced not only by what we personally believe, but also by what we think other people believe and do. The opportunity presented by stories like Bukangi’s is to make collective care visible. People see others expressing concern and taking action, reinforcing the idea that helping is something a community does.
Imagine applying that principle to a policing, the military or workplace. What if staff regularly witnessed colleagues intervening constructively when behaviour crossed a line? What if leaders openly supported those who spoke up? What if the team celebrated not just individual achievement but the everyday actions that protect the dignity and safety of others? Over time, speaking up could become less exceptional and more expected.
Unity Makes Courage Less Lonely
We often talk about active bystandership in terms of courage. We encourage people to challenge harmful behaviour, even when doing so feels uncomfortable or risky. But courage does not exist in a vacuum. People consider the consequences of their actions.
Will colleagues support them?
Will their manager back them?
Will they be labelled disloyal or accused of failing to understand the culture?
These concerns can be particularly powerful in hierarchical organisations, where relationships, status and belonging matter. Fear is something internal. How we help people to master their fear becomes important.
This is why unity is so important. When people trust that others share their commitment to doing the right thing, intervention can feel less isolating. A person who speaks up is no longer simply an individual challenging a colleague; they are acting on values that the group recognises and supports, and intervention doesn’t have to mean confrontation.
One person might interrupt an inappropriate comment. Another might check on the person affected. A colleague might reinforce the challenge, while a supervisor ensures the issue is addressed appropriately.
Each action contributes to the same outcome. We don’t all have to be the hero who does everything. We can each play a part in preventing harm.
That is the essence of collective bystandership.
But Unity Alone Isn’t Enough
There is an important caution here. Groups can be united around the wrong things.
A strong sense of belonging can encourage people to protect colleagues at all costs, keep problems within the team or remain silent rather than challenge someone in a position of authority.
In these circumstances, loyalty becomes an obstacle to doing the right thing. We therefore need to be clear about what our unity represents.
Is it a commitment to protecting the reputation of our organisation, regardless of the behaviour of its members? Or is it a commitment to protecting the people within it, including when that requires us to challenge our own colleagues? Healthy unity isn’t about agreeing with one another all the time. It is about sharing values strong enough to withstand disagreement. Sometimes, the most loyal thing we can do for a colleague is to challenge their behaviour before it causes further harm, and sometimes, the most important thing we can do for our organisation is to speak up about something it would rather not hear.
True solidarity protects people, not harmful behaviour. My advice is to redefine loyalty.
From Concern To Collective Action
Perhaps the most important lesson from Bukangi’s story is the potential for a shared concern to become a shared responsibility. Feeling empathy is a starting point, but empathy alone doesn’t guarantee action. People also need to recognise that something can be done, understand their role and feel confident enough to take the first step.
Organisations can help create these conditions by developing practical intervention skills, encouraging supportive leadership and making expectations about behaviour clear. They can also make acts of bystandership visible. Share examples of people who have challenged inappropriate behaviour, supported a colleague or intervened before a situation escalated. Recognise those who help others, not just those who achieve individual success. Most importantly, leaders must demonstrate that speaking up is welcomed, even when it challenges established ways of doing things.
We need to create cultures where people don’t simply believe that looking after one another is important. They know what it looks like in practice, understand how to do it and trust that they won’t be left standing alone.
We Can Build Communities That Care Enough To Act
Bukangi’s story has reminded me of the power of a shared purpose to connect people. It has prompted me to reflect on how we might harness that same sense of unity to prevent harm in our workplaces and communities.
Imagine a culture where witnessing someone being humiliated creates the same instinctive sense of collective responsibility as witnessing a vulnerable creature in distress. Imagine people no longer asking whether it is their place to intervene, but considering how they might help. Imagine a team where everyone understands that preventing harm isn’t simply the responsibility of the manager, the supervisor or the designated safeguarding officer alone. It belongs to all of us.
We may not be able to control every situation we encounter, but we can influence the culture in which those situations occur. We can build trust. We can strengthen our shared identity. We can make courageous behaviour visible, and we can demonstrate, through our everyday actions, that nobody should have to face harm without support.
Unity Is The Connection. Active Bystandership Is What We Do With It.
Perhaps the challenge for all of us is this: How do we build communities where people don’t have to become a viral story before others feel collectively responsible for helping them?
