Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Fortune
Fortune
Gordon Schnell, Amber Scorah

In the age of unchecked billionaires and corporate bad behavior, everyday people have a million reasons to say something if they see something

(Credit: Michael Swensen - Getty Images)

We’ve worked helping whistleblowers bring forward information about fraud and misconduct for many years. When we tell people what we do, most people think about a movie they’ve seen or a story they've read–Enron. Madoff. Big Tobacco. Dirty cops. Whistleblowing is high-stakes drama, so no wonder Hollywood has made these real-life stories into blockbuster entertainment.

One can be forgiven for getting the impression that a whistleblower is a mythical creature of sorts, a person predestined for the righteous cause. Truth is, that’s usually not the case. We’ve worked with hundreds of whistleblowers over the years and they are just everyday people–so everyday, in fact, they could be you or me. This is important to know, because if we think of a whistleblower as “someone else,” we might miss wrongdoing right under our nose that could lead to someone’s death, rob us of our tax dollars, or lead to the next banking crisis or economic catastrophe.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.