Workplace Sabotage: How to Handle Hostile Coworkers, Bias, and Team Conflict

Описание: In Episode 4 of They Tried It, host Lindiwe Davis (aka The Couch Coach) sits down with Shakira Polite to talk workplace sabotage, hostile coworkers, and what it takes to protect your dignity and your career in high-pressure team environments.

The heart of this episode centers on a difficult experience inside a professional program designed to create access to advertising for nontraditional talent. Shakira describes navigating escalating conflict with a teammate, moving from adjusting, to observing patterns, to enduring disruption, until the situation crossed into open hostility and project sabotage. She and Lin discuss the emotional toll of being publicly disrespected, the painful silence of bystanders, and the moment you decide: this is above me, I’m reporting it.

This episode is also about self-advocacy, especially for Black and Brown women who are often conditioned to carry the weight, protect others, or keep the peace at their own expense. Shakira offers practical principles for anyone facing conflict at work, including how to communicate upward when you don’t feel confident in “corporate language,” and why you need a strategy before you speak up.

About Our Guest

Shakira Polite is a strategist and culture researcher working in commercial advertising, corporate branding, and consumer insight. She helps businesses communicate with people in ways that feel human, grounded in reciprocity, cultural intelligence, and a deep understanding of audience behavior. She is also committed to sharing knowledge (not gatekeeping it) and expanding access for people with nontraditional backgrounds.

Find Shakira on LinkedIn and on her Website.

About the Host

Lindiwe is a sought-after speaker, interviewer, and culture strategist across several industries, known for bridging theory and practice through storytelling and lived experience. With over 25 years of experience spanning leadership development, organizational effectiveness, coaching, and media storytelling, she is the founder of FutureState Collective—the culture and media platform that produces They Tried It.

Learn more about Lindiwe and view her media kit here.

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