Marketplace Ponderings (9)

Telling the Truth (4)

One of the great disservices we do to those who work for us is when we don’t tell them the truth and when we fail to insist that they tell us the truth. Since much of the world functions on spin and flattery and lies it can be difficult to teach people to tell the truth; and since much of the world lives in insecurity it can be a challenge to help people listen to the truth.

Because many people just want to make it through the moment they tend to say things that are superficial and placating - this can be from the bottom up or from the top down in an organization. Also, since people often equate disagreement with relationship - threatening and job-threatening conflict they often avoid anything that might lead to disagreement. Telling the truth often demands that we invest time and energy in people, it often requires that we actually get to know others and build relationships; that we listen as well as talk, and that we try to understand other perspectives. In our nanosecond society this is a challenge...others must be important enough to me for me to slow down and engage them, investing myself in them. Sometimes we may get this right, sometimes not, but unless we try we won’t learn.

One way to facilitate truth-telling, whether it is what we say or what others say, it is to kill ambiguity as soon as we see it. If we ask a question and don’t get a direct answer we take the time to ask it again. If the second response is still ambiguous we ask it again, and again, until we receive an clear, concise, and unvarnished answer. What we are doing is coaching and training others to tell the truth. It often isn’t that people are deliberately lying, it is that spin is our society’s way of life. Consider that by insisting that our people tell the truth that we are asking them to maintain a higher standard than many political and corporate and institutional leaders - we are asking them to rise above what they see on television - this is no small task.

We owe our subordinates the truth so that they will know where they stand in their careers; but we also owe them the truth communicated in a way that hopefully builds up and does not tear down...even an employment termination can have redemptive qualities to it. While it is nice to be liked, it is more important for our people to know the truth about their performance than for them to like us, and hopefully along with that truth there is a plan of action for improvement and growth - as I mentioned in a previous post, the way we communicate can be just as important as what we communicate. When we tell the truth about difficult issues we have teaching moments, we have relationship-building moments, we have the possibility for growth and encouragement.

Successful truth-telling relationships are just that, relationships, ongoing conversations that build trust and work through difficulties. But again it requires commitment, time, and energy.

How many organizations fail to realize their potential because employees are afraid to tell the truth about operations and corporate culture? The lowest person on an organizational chart may have insights that can lead to a healthier DNA or greater productivity. The middle manager that sees things from looking both downward and upward may have perspectives that can have a dramatic effect on a firm.

The Christ-follower in the marketplace must tell the truth, it is not an option, it is who we are in Christ because it is who Christ is in us. A follower of Jesus cannot live a life of lying, we cannot drink from the cup of the Lord one moment and from the cup of the father of lies the next.

We can strive to teach others to tell the truth; yes, we will be going against the grain of society and of the marketplace - but we really have no other option; we really can make a difference, we really can help others.

Faithful to Christ, faithful to others - always telling the truth...this is our calling.