Being Honest

(This is taken from a letter to Dean Tracy Lind, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland OH, September 30, 2008, Posted to my Blog Spring 2010)

I used to give lectures and workshops on Wisdom in the Workplace. I came up with a working definition of wisdom comprised of truth, inclusion and compassion. We spent a lot of time on truth. That “The truth is always an option” was eye-opening to many who thought they were victims or were so used to playing the game. My opinion is that we have to know we have that choice, even if we decide not to take it. I’m sure there are times when choosing to not speak up has its merits. Lying, I think, is in a different category. 

But when a person knows he is choosing expediency over honesty, or is choosing self-preservation over speaking, he or she is not a victim. Moreover, they know they are contributing to the maintenance of conditions they oppose. For many, this leads to changing actions. They leave toxic organizations. They pick and choose times to speak up, even if just a little bit. They start to back up (or at least stop ridiculing) people who do speak up a little more. Their own values become more clear to them: I want to support my family and speaking up would risk my job; It’s unfeminine to make waves; It’s disrespectful to contradict one’s elders; I want to be accepted and they’ll think I’m an angry black man; I’m despairing, what’s the use, no one will listen to me anyway. 

One of the worst examples of how “business is right and best” has infiltrated our society’s consciousness is how often I have heard that the worst thing that can happen to people is to lose their jobs. Fortunately, this particular phrase when uttered is easy to refute. The worst thing in the world is your child dying. The second worst thing in the world is your child being very sick. The list goes up from there. The job always finds its rightful, less prestigious place on the list of worst things in the world in that conversation.

When we keep telling ourselves that the worst thing in the world that can happen is to lose a job, there is insurmountable fear in our work and every day of our working lives. Besides the toll fear takes on our physical and emotional health, it also diminishes attachment, innovation and initiative, creativity, and productivity. Fear separates us from our brothers and sisters in work, even though our experience is that where two or more are gathered, there is less fear.[1]

Speaking up and out, in even the smallest opportunities strengthens one’s voice and the experience that telling the truth doesn’t always get one into trouble. Sometimes, it’s even rewarded.

[1] The amazing thing about this phenomenon to me is that even when the group is fear-mongering, there is still a sense of strength in numbers and a form of efficacy.




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