Should We Tell The Truth To The Boss?

Last month, News News International is in deep eavesdropping scandal. At the hearing of the special committee of the British Parliament in July 19th, news international executives repeatedly argued, but a question on the floor of Parliament asked, "do you know what willful blindness is?" They directly pierced their testimony and made Murdoch and his son speechless.

From the very beginning, news international argued that "those who do not know are not guilty." Rupert Murdoch (Rupert Murdoch) trusts her right-hand men too much, and James Murdoch (James Murdoch) can not understand all aspects of news international operation, while Rebecca Brooks (Rebekah Brooks) empowers her subordinates. believe They have good judgement. At the top of the company, it is impossible to know everything about News International. Besides, who would have thought that several reporters' mischief would subvert the whole News Corp?

The justification of News International is neither convincing nor fresh. We have seen and heard similar allegations of leaders in other companies' crises. Fred Goodwin (Fred Goodwin) of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Tang Xihua (Tony Hayward) of the British Petroleum (BP), Jeff Skilling (Hayward) of Enron (Enron) and Kenneth Eli (Scotland) have all expressed their innocence, shock and regret for the disaster that happened to their company. But as a matter of fact, each of them has countless opportunities to intervene and deal with the problems exposed in the operation of the organization.
Leaders should realize that there are differences between the two "ignorance" and "shuffle ignorance", which is very important for the company to operate steadily or even survive. Murdoch and his son were very uncomfortable when they heard "deliberately ignoring", because this legal term means that if you pretend to be deaf and dumb about what you should be responsible for, you will still be held responsible for the law. In other words, any act or complaint that may seriously damage the company's operation or reputation. Leader Everyone has the responsibility to be clear about the chest and deal with it in time.

Experience shows that most leaders know that they must cultivate an open and transparent corporate culture, always pay attention to and take all the signs of irregularities seriously. But there is always a great distance between knowledge and action. I do not believe that leaders can transform beautiful words into real actions. How many leaders are really ready to listen to the voices of all sectors of the company? How open will they be to accept criticism from others about their leadership and organizational practices? How many employees really have the right to speak? What channels and opportunities are there for the company? What new changes will there be if employees speak the truth?

Let us imagine a possible situation in News International. You are a middle-level journalist from the News of the World. You've heard that some senior reporters use creative means to get news, including telephone tapping. You see the editor in chief lets your colleagues get the news by hook or by crook. When a shocking news caused a sensation and the editor was very satisfied, you were also very excited. Soon, you are also asked to gather news. How about you? Risk losing your job to challenge the status quo, or accept the reality and get the promotion and rewards you think you deserve?

We know what happened in the news of the world. Those who were against the irregularities were expelled, and their efforts to challenge the ugly acts of the company failed, but eventually led to the closure of the news of the world, and hundreds of people lost their jobs. Their leaders get severance pay of millions of pounds.

Now imagine that your company has the same situation. Your Boss Do you want to do something that can't be done? Did he ignore your reasonable requests? Are you deeply worried about the company's operation or strategy? Do you have any information to be known to leaders? Do you risk challenging your boss, or do you think you can do nothing about it? If you didn't report that information to the leader, would you lose your job?

Whether you tell the boss that he has done something wrong or if you confess your fault to your boss, it is not easy to tell the truth to the boss. The boss has many ways to frighten people: position, power, personality, even wealth, and superior superiority. Even if they did not publicly intimidate, most executives expected that their employees would not question them and their company policies. Even if they had any ideas, they would quietly raise them in private. Those who see the wrong behavior and feel the need to speak out or disclose it may be accused of being either a team player or a troublemaker.

Sociologist Albert Hirshman (Albert O. Hirschmann) wrote in the book of 70s of last century. company Employees who have policy objections have three choices: "leaving, speaking and allegiance". In other words:

1, based on the principle, propose resignation.
2, try to change the policy (telling the truth to the boss).
3. Continue to be a loyal team player.

In fact, most people choose third ways, because this is the easiest way to do it. This is exactly what happened in the news of the world: leaders may pretend to be deaf and dumb, and employees also give up their inner moral integrity because they know that they can not change the status quo. If they want to resist, they may only be punished.

What do you think of telling the boss the truth? What experience or observation do you have? Do you have a real say in the organization?