Stephen Milner's Insights
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The Truth About Leadership
Can you tell the truth in business? Should you tell the truth in business?
When was the last time you told a lie at work? Was it just a white lie, or was it something more important? Did you have a choice, or were you in a situation where it became unavoidable? In this discussion I would like to explore the use of the truth in business and by leaders.
Imagine the situation:
You are leading a team at work and you receive an anonymous tip off that one of your longest serving and most productive members is involved in fraudulent activity. After several days of investigation by yourself and subsequent investigation by the company audit department you have decided to perform a "sting" operation next Thursday. The nature of the suspected fraud is complex, and you have had to spend a good deal of time organising the operation and several people have had to re-arrange their diaries to help you get this in place.
Then, on the morning of the Wednesday before the operation, the team member under suspicion asks for tomorrow off. Because of all the work put into this, and of course you are entitled to refuse a request at short notice, you decide to refuse. What are you going to give as reason to refuse the request?
Several years ago I made a moral choice. To tell the truth, all the time. I'm not going to boast that I have achieved this all the time, but I can not remember the last time I told a lie. This has delivered some great personal and business benefits to me and I am hoping that I can persuade you to give this serious consideration.
Over time, by telling the truth you will gain a reputation that what you say is what you mean. With that reputation comes huge benefits. Your colleagues will trust you, your manager will know that you admit your mistakes, your team will not ever be left wondering what you are really up to. But you can't tell the truth all the time. Can you?
I'm sure you been on the receiving end of a lie, and generally speaking it's obvious. "The reason you are not receiving a bonus is because no one is receiving one." - "The company is not providing any training courses at the moment." - "It is company policy not to allow flexible working" Of course all those lies are soon found out, when someone is overheard boasting about their bonus, another department runs some training or flexible working is offered at a differing site. These may seem like trite examples, but cast your mind back over your experiences and you will quickly find the times when you have been lied to in your mind.
The reason that you are able to quickly identify those experiences is because we are evolved as strongly social creatures. As a result, being able to trust another member of your social group (and don't be fooled, a business is one of the closest social groups we interact with) is key to that group's ability to perform. So as a leader, can you recall the times you have lied? Were the outcomes positive, indifferent or negative? My guess would be that you have not even considered the impact of any lies you have told beyond the immediacy of the situation in which you found the need to lie.
So why not tell the truth instead? Of course there are confidential matters in any business, and if asked about them directly you can always explain that you are unable to answer the question. People are intelligent reasonable creatures who are fully aware that not everything can be discussed in a business. Surely it's better to state what everyone already knows, than to make something up to answer a question. What about hurting people's feelings? Here more skill is required to address questions such as "Why am I not getting a bonus?" when in your opinion performance does not warrant one. However, these are skills as leaders we should already have. Coaching, mentoring and assessing our teams should be part of our toolset, and these questions should be viewed in the light of those skills. Handled properly this is an opportunity for the individual to improve and learn. Obviously those conversations should be held in private and managed in a positive manor.
How can we handle the situation above? We could tell the team member that there is something important happening at work tomorrow and that their involvement is needed, but you are not in a position to discuss it with them. It might make them more alert or suspicious, but no more, I suspect, than simply insisting they can't have the day off because the notice was too short. If they are found to be involved in the fraudulent behaviour then you have lost nothing. If it is demonstrated that the tip off was wrong, a careful explanation of the situation afterwards will make everything clear. Despite the work involved in re-scheduling the operation, you could just consider allowing them to take the day off
So, when is appropriate to lie at work? In my opinion there is only one time, and that is when you have a brief to break a team and demoralise the individuals. Not a situation that I have had to handle, thankfully!
Previous Posting
Computer Says "No"
Assuming you've seen Little Britain, I'm sure you will empathise with the plight of the people, to whom the computer says "no"
We must have all been in that type of situation, either in our working environment or in our dealings in our personal lives. How do these situations arise?
