What happens when telling the truth could cost you your career?

In this Outlaws Diary episode, Kate and Shayla sit down with Rabia Siddique, international human rights lawyer, former British Army officer, and leadership consultant, to explore what it really means to choose truth over safety.

From a hostage crisis in Iraq to a discrimination case against the UK government, Rabia’s story is extraordinary. But the tension at its core is universal: what do you do when the system tells you to stay quiet?

This episode explores courageous leadership, workplace discrimination, whistleblowing, and what it really means to speak truth to power. Rabia shares the personal and professional cost of challenging authority, and why values-based leadership often requires breaking the rules that protect powerful institutions.

We talk about what happens when silence feels like complicity, why speaking up can feel career-ending, and how real leadership sometimes begins the moment you refuse to comply.

– Rabia’s journey from Legal Aid lawyer to the British Army – The hostage crisis in Iraq and what happened behind closed doors – The discrimination case that challenged the UK government and military – Why injustice by those you trust can cut deeper than trauma itself – What whistleblowing really costs and why it matters – How to practise ethical, values-based leadership inside rigid systems – The myth that success requires perfection and conformity – Why you don’t have to be in a war zone to feel “held hostage” by your career

This conversation moves beyond the extraordinary circumstances of a military hostage situation and into something far more familiar: the moments in our own careers where we feel stuck, silenced, or pressured to conform.

And sometimes, the real outlaw move is this: speak up anyway.

Resources & Links Rabia’s book: Equal Justice Connect with Rabia via her website and social media

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Hosted and produced by Shayla Strapps and Kate Offer