Regardless of political persuasion, television news is full of upset these days. Deliberate misinformation is dishonest and meant to disorient perceptions of others and the truth. My strategy is to read the news from reliable news sources and take my time identifying the facts. Misinformation was not invented in Washington D.C, however. The business world is full of colorful characters that confuse what they want you to believe with the facts. Failure to identify these players quickly can be detrimental to one’s career.
Deception in the workplace is always a matter of scale. In his works on Transaction Analysis, Eric Berne observed that whenever we receive communication that calls for a response, we make a choice to respond honestly or dishonestly. Most of the time, deceptions are small in nature and designed to avoid some behavior or to duck accountability. But in a stressed environment, the stakes can become large. I recall early in my career going to work for a troubled private company where stakeholders were positioning the company for sale. The entire executive team was fearful of being terminated with a stain on their career. This was the first time in my career that I became aware that managers were flat-out lying to me with the hope that I would somehow indict one of their peers to get them fired before they were. Over the next nine months, I learned much about maintaining integrity in a toxic work environment.
These are the key lessons I took away:
- Make clear goals and set your intention before every meeting. Act on opportunities to move closer to your goal and resist attempts to be distracted. Don’t give up on your goal!
- Make it a practice to separate facts from beliefs and opinions. Facts are observable. When I read the paper these days, I look for direct quotes and observed actions. Beliefs are the “I think”, “he should”, and all the other interpretations of what happened.
- Monitor your thoughts and separate facts from beliefs there, too. We are all emotional creatures with the tendency to act on our emotions. When your emotions are stirred up, take a minute to identify the belief that caused the upset. Note that facts do not solicit an emotional response; missed expectations do.
- Verify your source. If something feels a little incredible, find someone else that can report the facts.
The epilogue is that the company was acquired and I was promoted by the acquiring company. I have found that it’s good to live by Robert Schuller’s quote, “Tough times never last, tough people do.” I have always observed that good companies fix bad management. Feel free to share your experiences with a difficult culture and remember that Accelerated Achievement can help managers committed to fixing their organizations.