Top female lobbyist offers her take on sexual harassment
In the current climate of sexual harassment allegations affecting a wide swath of industries, including politics, a top female Washington lobbyist says it's time for leaders to "foster a culture of respect."
"When I got here fresh out of the University of Iowa as a new, young congressional staffer, I think the general sentiment, it was sort of passed along from woman to woman, was 'boys will be boys and women have to manage that. And you should always be alert and avoid being in situations that are uncomfortable,'" Susan Neely, the president and CEO of the American Beverage Association, told CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett and Political Director Steve Chaggaris on this week's episode of "The Takeout."
"That approach works pretty well until you get some outlier that's a jackass and actually abusive and uses their position of power to be abusive," Neely added.
"That's what I welcome about all of this massive public conversation were having now. It gives us a chance to talk about the culture needs to change. And all of us who lead organizations, women and men, need to foster a culture of respect."
"All of us who are in leadership need to help change that, we need to respect each other. You don't assume every guy's a bad guy, that was far from my experience. The vast majority of guys are great guys and are respectful. But we need to give a voice to that and to be consciously modeling the behaviors that are the right ones," Neely said.
For more from Major and Steve's conversation with Susan Neely, who also weighed in on the Republicans' tax reform effort, how President Trump's "swamp" drainage is going, and issues the soft drink beverage industry is dealing with, download "The Takeout" podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify. New episodes are available every Friday morning.
Also, you can watch "The Takeout" on CBSN Friday and Saturday nights at 9pm ET/PT. For a full archive of "The Takeout" episodes, visit www.takeoutpodcast.com.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @takeoutpodcast
Email: takeoutpodcast@cbsnews.com
Producers: Arden Farhi, Katiana Krawchenko
