Walk Away to Win

McGraw-Hill; May 16, 2023

WALK AWAY TO WIN is a book about how to identify healthy and unhealthy workplace cultures—specifically when the behaviors behind the latter lead to toxicity, hostility, and workplace bullying. But more than that, it’s a book about the true definition of winning, about prevailing against the odds, and about refusing to be a victim.

According to research conducted in 2021, 30% of Americans have been subjected to bullying at work, 19% have witnessed it, and 49% have felt their work has been affected by it. Despite the prevalence of this experience, most people who experience bullying by bosses or peers feel alone, guilty, and ashamed. Often people can’t even agree on what workplace bullying is, or how to stop what has become known as “the undiscussable.”

Enter Megan Carle. In 2016, after working at Nike for almost three decades, she reached the pinnacle of her career as vice president/general manager of North American basketball. But what no one suspected was that, along the way, she was experiencing something that countless women and men face every day at their jobs: workplace bullying. And it almost broke her.

Far from a personal polemic, WALK AWAY TO WIN is a first-of-its-kind book for anyone who thinks this damaging behavior might be happening at their workplace and is looking to understand the culture in which workplace bullying thrives. Targets of bullying, business leaders, HR professionals, and even workplace bullies themselves will gain not only a new understanding of this insidious behavior but also—and perhaps more importantly—an appreciation for the ingredients that make up a healthy workplace culture instead.

Set up as a playbook, Carle walks readers through different types of bullying at work—naming the behavior that it includes, and also does not include, such as sexual harassment; explains how to identify someone who is bullying their colleagues; and enumerates the choices managers and other leaders have when it comes to addressing the person doing the bullying, while simultaneously supporting those who have been bullied.

In a time when even Merriam-Webster is raising collective awareness of bullying—the 2022 word of the year was Gaslighting—and when so many people are rethinking what work should look and feel like, WALK AWAY TO WIN is a must-read for anyone who wants to build a better and more balanced workplace culture for all.

Reviews

“The fact that someone as honorable, intelligent, and hard-working as Megan Carle has written a book about workplace bullying got my attention. In WALK AWAY TO WIN, Carle tells her story, offering emotional and professional validation for countless others who haven’t had the strength to talk about their own experiences. Her ability to nurture, protect and mentor is evident on every page. A coach’s daughter (and total badass) who thrived in a man’s world, she is the perfect person to tell this tale. WALK AWAY TO WIN is the ultimate look at how to overcome adversity; I can’t recommend it enough.”

—Matthew Del Negro, actor and author of 10,000 NOs

“As someone who has personally experienced, explored, and written about the Hollywood version of workplace bullying, I was drawn to the insights in Megan Carle’s book. What I quickly discovered was that Megan knows of what she writes. Even more importantly, she redefines the concept of ‘winning’ in such a situation as reclaiming oneself. WALK AWAY TO WIN is a timely and important book that should be required reading across industries.”

—Naomi McDougall Jones, award-winning filmmaker and author of The Wrong Kind of Women: Inside Our Revolution to Dismantle the Gods of Hollywood 

“There is nothing more defeating to an employee than to see a true leader mistreated by their organization. Megan Carle is one of the greatest managers and coworkers with whom you could have the great fortune to intersect. While she was publicly mistreated at the brand she devoted her life to, WALK AWAY TO WIN is the perfect illustration of Megan’s style: taking the tough steps to better the rest of us. Anyone who wants to learn how to be a better leader, starting today, needs to read this book.”

—Phil Cook, Chief Marketing Officer, Women’s National Basketball Association

“With this mighty little book, Megan Carle demonstrates what being brave looks like, and why it doesn’t mean being without fear as the word fearless suggests. WALK AWAY TO WIN reminds readers that having courage to do what scares us, whilst remaining human in the process--no matter how many times work may try to knock the human out of us-- is the key to not only surviving, but thriving, in the workplace and in life. I have a single tattoo on my left wrist that reads I got you. Carle’s book is confirmation that these three words must be tattooed, not necessarily on our bodies in ink, but certainly in our brains and in our hearts. Get this book.”

—Jennifer Pastiloff, bestselling author of On Being Human 

“My sister tells this story about me protecting her from some neighborhood tough guys when we were kids. She says I stepped in front of her, and told the juvenile delinquents, ‘Don’t mess with my sister. They listened. I wasn’t there to protect my sister when she got bullied for real in the workplace. She alluded to it, but I never truly listened. She had accomplished so much in life, and she had already taken its biggest punch. She was my Superwoman. She still is, but now for reasons you will all understand when you read WALK AWAY TO WIN.”

—Neil Everett, co-anchor, ESPN SportsCenter

“Megan Carle’s book WALK AWAY TO WIN is the catalyst for an eye-opening conversation; not only about the marginalization of women in big business but also about the majesty of a woman’s grit when it comes to navigating, surviving, and thriving, amid the predatory challenges of workplace bullying. As an expert in narcissism, I am keenly aware of the damaging impact on those dealing with pathological bullying and toxic environments. Megan brings illuminating experience to this must-read playbook, capturing the bully construct so clearly and creatively. She escorts her reader through a rich and robust conceptual framework of workplace bullying with clarity, guiding you toward hope, reclaiming your voice, and resuscitating your right to sanity and success.  For anyone dealing with, or recovering from, the chaos, self-doubts, and subjugation generated by the toxicity of workplace bullying, this book is an essential resource for your personal library.”

—Wendy Behary, LCSW/psychotherapist and author of Disarming the Narcissist

“In WALK AWAY TO WIN, Megan Carle offers first and foremost unique and user-friendly strategies for recognizing and managing workplace bullying. She lays out practical, actionable ways to deal with this toxic behavior, whether the reader is the target, a colleague who witnesses it, or a leader at the company where it occurs. Great recommended reading for anyone encountering bullying behavior that is negatively impacting their career.”

—Deanna Oppenheimer, Chair, IHG Hotels & Resorts

“With her book WALK AWAY TO WIN, Megan Carle has crafted a masterpiece about workplace bullying, including the specific choices targets and witnesses can make to take back their zest for work and life. Until all organizations have processes in place that ensure competent, equitable, mature, and decent managers and leaders are vetted, selected, and evaluated—in order to assure thriving workplace cultures are built and maintained—Megan’s book will be a required, slam dunk, tool to help readers navigate and transcend toxic workplace cultures.”

—Matt Paknis, author of Successful Leaders Aren’t Bullies