I REPEAT: Is Your Organization Sitting on a Ticking Time Bomb?

With the recent White House bombshell exposing Rob Porter, it is obvious, once again, that no one is immune to abuse - sexual or otherwise. The White House’s tardy and disingenuous response speaks volumes about just how serious this matter should be to all of us! Why else would Trump, who I believe is fully informed, continue to protect the people in his inner circle who he considers to be a star?

This misuse of power extends far beyond the acts themselves. Leadership is sitting on critical information and trying to sweep it under the rug until it is quietly forgotten or until the problem disappears. This behaviour simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Politicians are scrambling to protect their own butts for one of two reasons. Either Trump has some information about them that they want kept private, or they don’t care what principles or morals they stand for as long as they protect their position. Some Republicans are jumping ship in record numbers before they get caught themselves. Others with some sense of decency still in place can’t stand the craziness anymore and are returning to life outside of politics. Who can blame them?

So, I repeat – Is Your Organization Sitting on a Ticking Time Bomb?

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A #MeToo Backlash is Inevitable

There is no question that #MeToo movement has raised the level of awareness and outrage on harassment. However, the backlash to the movement as described in the Washington Post should not be ignored because there is some validity to what is being challenged. My advice to the #MeToo movement is to proportionally balance the outing of the abusers of the past and to focus on those who continue to abuse with impunity. Another suggestion is to penetrate sectors beyond media, politics and entertainment. Based on the extensive research I have done, abuse and harassment is as prevalent in every sector. 

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WELLS FARGO FINALLY GETS ITS WINGS CLIPPED

As is outlined in this New York Times article, The Federal Reserve Board has turned the screws considerably tighter on Wells Fargo as punishment for the scandal that swept the headlines as early as 2013 in this Los Angeles Times article. 

I have cited the Wells Fargo scandal a number of times as an example of boards who are either inept or liars about what they knew and when they knew it. I applaud the Fed for the position they have taken here; and I am appalled by Wells Fargo’s piddling response.

Every board member who was on board at the time this first broke needs to be replaced and publicly shamed. Remember when this first came out, they sent all of the employees who work in retail banking to ‘ethics training’ only to have them return to work under the same pressures to meet quotas, which could only be met by creating fraudulent accounts.

When this hit the media Wells Fargo fired 5,300 employees for violating their ethics policy. At the time the board and most if not all of the executive committee who should have been fired. 

Take note that this same dynamic is in play with current University of Michigan Gymnastics scandal. The response by the board of directors is typical, where boards hide behind claims they were not aware, not realizing, given the fact this went on for years, it validates gross incompetence.

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WHERE WAS THE OUTRAGE????

I take the opposite view from this article by Jo Ellison in the Financial Times, insomuch that for far too long we been apathetic to wrongdoings. We have been conditioned to normalize the abnormal. Perhaps the best example is what went on at Michigan State and the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team.

Most of the #MeToo movement’s exposures have been ‘open secrets’ for years, and some for decades. Most of the wrongdoings I have reported on have been ‘open secrets’ for years and some for decades.

My question is WHERE WAS THE OUTRAGE????

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THE PERILS OF HOSTILE AND ABUSIVE CULTURES

The values and principles that Amazon touts are in stark contrast to the reality of what employees there experience. Remember the scathing 2015 New York Times exposure of Amazon’s culture and Jeff Bezos incredibly stupid response “That’s not the Amazon I know” and his witch-hunt with Jay Carney to find employees who leaked information on this to the New York Times. 

I have spent considerable time in Seattle interviewing former and current employees of Amazon. Their reactions to these values and principles are pretty unanimous in that they echo Bezos’, “That’s not the Amazon I know”.  A number of those indicated that the Amazon name reflects the culture there - “It’s a jungle where they eat their young”.

These values and principles are an example of weak words developed by the neutered Human Resources people, who are masters of their own gobbledygook. As Leslie Hook discusses in her Financial Times opinion piece, it never ceases to amaze me how these masterpieces of nothingness get plastered throughout organizations, yet bear no resemblance to how those organizations actually operate.

It’s about time for leadership in all organizations to revisit their stated values and principles and reconcile them with their reality.

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IS YOUR ORGANIZATION SITTING ON A TICKING TIME BOMB? Part 2

This article was published in MoneyInc Magazine.

Over the last five years I have dedicated much of my time to organizational dynamics with a focus on culture and climate. This work is captured in a number of published articles, over three hundred blog posts and two books, the most recent being, ‘From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire’.

What I have found is that most organizations have a culture of fear and open secrets where leadership (including boards) either is oblivious to what’s going on; or they are at the root of the problem.

A recent survey of Canadian of C Suite executives indicated that 94 percent of them believe that there is not a sexual harassment problem in their organizations. My bet is that if they were asked if there were any other improprieties in their organizations, the number would be the same. I would also bet that if a similar survey were conducted in the United States, the number would be the same. 

In Canada last week, within 48 hours, Patrick Brown - Ontario’s Leader of the Opposition, Jamie Baillie - Nova Scotia’s Conservative Leader, Kent Hehr -the Federal Sports and Disability Minister, Paul Bliss - a prominent CTV reporter, and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police doctor were ousted over sexual harassment allegations. To those 94 percent I suggest you reconsider this.

Since I started working on organizational dynamics, we have been overwhelmed by stories in the media about organizational wrongdoing. The consistent reaction from boards and senior executives have been claims of not being aware. After exposures have been investigated, another constant has been revealed - these improprieties and wrongdoings were open secrets for years and in some instances decades.

The recent #MeToo exposures has certainly highlighted these dynamics and I must say, with little satisfaction, validated what I have been harping on. And the horrific USA Gymnastics scandal is a gut wrenching illustration.

My prediction is that the #MeToo movement will start to go beyond politics, government, the media and entertainment; and it will go beyond sexual harassment.

Employees are coming to realize, that they have been conditioned to accept the abnormal as the norm. They are also coming to realize that they have a responsibility to expose situations that put them and their coworkers at risk; and they are looking for ways to do this. 

This is a tsunami just waiting to happen! The next industrial revolution!  And because of this, “The time has come the walrus said to talk of many things...” 

For boards of directors, “the time has come” to recognize that “Houston we have a problem”. From this point on, board directors should not get off the hook by deflecting exposures of abuse, harassment and ethical breaches to management. They must act now to assess whether there is problem; and if there is, they must determine who knew what, when did they know anything, and what they did about it. And then they must take measures to hold people accountable and punish the offenders. More importantly, take must measures to ensure that the behaviours or actions stop and do not recur. 

To fast track this, boards should determine how employees feel and why they feel the way they do about the work they do; the relationships they have at work; and the organization. The Faas Foundation and Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence have developed a method by which to conduct this diagnoses. 

We have found that this model goes well beyond engagement surveys, and uncovers unnecessary stress factors. More importantly, this is also an indicator of the ability for employees to be open, honest and direct in communicating issues and opportunities. 

A quick way for boards to determine if there is a problem is to get the head of Human Resources to fess up on what the ‘open secrets’ are, communicating in no uncertain terms that if they do exist and are not disclosed, they will view that person as being incompetent and/or complicit. My research has shown that in over 80 percent of situations where there is a toxic culture, Human Resources is part of the problem versus part of the solution.

To reduce the fear factor, I have advised many organizations to engage a neutral ombudsperson resource for employees to seek advice on issues.

Board directors, like it or not, this is your responsibility. Failing to understand what is going on in your organization must result in the same consequences as the USA Gymnastics Directors have experienced.

Some have referred to this entire process has been nothing but a witch-hunt. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Margaret Sullivan suggests in her Washington Post article,  “I’d call it the rough beginnings of justice.”

(Andrew Faas is the author of ‘From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire,’ and a Public Voices Fellow at Yale University)

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TRUMP IS NOT TOTALLY TO BLAME

David Frum, author of ‘Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic’, provides a sobering analysis, striking at the core of why Trump got elected, which has relatively little to do with the candidates, and more to do with the discontent with the economic, ethical and social conditions that have been eroding America.

I was one of the few who predicted Trump would win because I heard and saw this discontent on a book tour I did in 2016. Bottom line - the average American did (do) not respect or trust the institutions, companies, leaders, and the media, who they blame for this erosion.

(Andrew Faas is the author of ‘From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire,’ and a Public Voices Fellow at Yale University)

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IS YOUR ORGANIZATION SITTING ON A TICKING TIME BOMB?

Obviously in Canada, where 94% of C-suite executives don’t believe there is a sexual harassment problem, they should reread my book ‘From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire’, to refresh their memories. As early as November 2015, I have been warning companies that they need to become more aware – a lot more aware, in fact – that not only is sexual harassment alive and well in the workplace, but it reflects a far more serious and far more pervasive problem – the workplace in North America operates as a culture of fear.

I have focused much attention on this issue in my blogs. Now, Patrick Brown, the leader of the opposition of Ontario, which represents 39% of Canada’s GDP, has resigned under alleged sexual misconduct. So has Nova Scotia PC leader Jamie Baillie, over allegations of inappropriate behaviour. This is not just inappropriate; it is deplorable.

It is high time that boards of directors and executives should seriously be addressing this question within their own ranks and their own organizations. This behaviour is not going to go away; nor is this serious societal problem relegated solely to sexual harassment. This is an enormous problem that will undoubtedly result in other people coming forward with other forms of abuse. These various forms of abuse too often lead to dire consequences to families and individuals.

I will continue to encourage people to come forward not only because of past allegations, but because primarily this stuff is still going on. Recent examples include Dr. Larry Nassar, the disgraced Michigan State University gymnastics doctor, who has been sexually abusing patients since 1995! This is just the tip of the iceberg in this investigation where a whole host of stomach-wrenching cover-ups and denials will very likely emerge. Everybody claims that they either didn’t know the abuse was taking place or as in this case, coach Martha Karolyi said that it never actually happened! Claiming you don’t know is an admission that you are clueless about what is going in your organization; or you’re outright lying.

People cannot be under the allusion that these are extreme cases. This stuff goes on all the time everywhere. Take this current example in Nova Scotia, where yet a second doctor working for the RCMP is facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Clearly, this has not been a good day for Canada. My advice to all board directors and executives is to put on a stronger pair of glasses and become more aware of what in hell is going on in your own organization. This behaviour is repulsive and should not be the backdrop by which people around the world view our great country!

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THE POPE SHOULD BE EXCOMMUNICATED!

In my first book, The Bully’s Trap, I asserted that the Catholic Church has no moral authority to be in the business of providing spiritual advice and counsel to their flock of parishioners.  Articles in the New Yorker Magazine, The Guardian, and PRI’s The World support this statement.

There was unconditional pushback from staunch Catholics, including bullying expert Barbara Coloroso. She is a former Nun, and a former co -author of mine who was extremely uncomfortable using the Catholic Church to illustrate bullying and abuse; and we cannot find anything she has written or spoken about such abuse, which is strange because she is a children and youth bullying expert. Even when specifically asked about these atrocities she had no comment – apparently she’s drinking the ‘sacramental cool aid’. When asked what their greatest fear is in exposing this, the only conclusion I could logically reach is that there is much more to it than what’s been exposed – the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

But then, when Pope Francis was appointed, I thought there was some real hope; so much so that in my 2nd book ‘From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire’, I was more optimistic that there would be a shift. My optimism was short lived and quickly turned to disappointment that he didn’t take a stronger stance. But, alas, as I point out in my book, turning targets and victims into villains is a common tactic used by bullies to defect the issues from them.

If his inaction wasn’t damning enough, Francis added insult to injury by giving Cardinal Law a full Vatican funeral as I wrote in a December blog. It bears repeating that, “Frankly, giving this guy a Vatican funeral is like giving Donald Trump the Noble Peace Prize.”

It is interesting to note that Pope Francis is taking this stance in the year of the ‘#MeToo Movement. We should encourage those who have been abused by the predators in the Church to start a similar movement to flush the predators out.

And now, he’s totally capitulated as is exposed in this USA Today article by Jane Onyanga-Omara. He’s relegated himself and the church to be totally neutered and ineffective and unable to appropriately carry the torch for what they’re supposed to be doing, providing spiritual guidance. Perhaps the Church should sell their assets; give them to the abused and victimized; get out the business. They’d do less harm.

This is a terrible blow to the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have had their lives ruined because of the Catholic hierarchy and perverts and predators they protect. Simply stated, this is appalling.

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‘M’ is for Mindful

A common directive we often hear is - ‘to be mindful of’. This directive means to factor in and think about certain things to draw conclusions and make choices and decisions.

In my experience, those who are mindful usually reach better conclusions and make better choices and decisions, as well as develop better relationships. Another benefit to those who are mindful is that they are perceived as being fair (see ‘F is for FAIR in this series of articles).

In hiring someone for a leadership position, I assess how mindful the candidates are when determining how they make choices and decisions. Specifically, to what extent do they use factors necessary to make a quality choice and decision?

Malcolm Gladwell describes this elevated consciousness in his must-read book, Blink - “There is in all our brains, a mighty backstage process, which works its will subconsciously. Through this process we have the capacity to shift huge amounts of information, blend data, isolate telling details and come to rapid conclusions, even in the first two seconds.”

Most of our decisions and choices require or should require more than two seconds.

Of all of our intelligences, emotional intelligence is the most significant. The Yale School of Emotional Intelligence defines EI as “the ability to recognize, understand, utilize, and regulate emotions effectively in everyday life”. Being mindful when making choices and decisions is important. For a clear understanding of how this is applied, I am inspired by the eight factors outlined by Tony Stoltzfus in his book Coaching Question:

1. Rational (the why and pro’s and con’s? Also what are the options?)

2. Intuition (as Gladwell argues, ‘what does your two second conclusion tell you - and why?)

3. Alignment (how consistent it is with your passion, values and beliefs?).

4. Relationships (what are the emotional and practical impacts it has on others?).

5. Council (what are the inputs and perspectives that you need from others?).

6. Negative Driver’s (what and why it will be resisted or opposed?).

7. Cost (what are the emotional and financial implications?).

8. Risk/Reward (is it worth it?).

To this I would add:

. Being mindful of what you know and what you don’t.

. Being mindful that everyone is not open, honest and direct.

. Being mindful that people may be telling you what they think you want to hear.

. Being mindful of what you have that others do not.

The reason I have added these few points is that a critical aspect of mindfulness is being aware. I never cease to be amazed and appalled by how oblivious leaders are to the world around them. The #MeToo movement has not only exposed sexual harassment; but it has exposed leadership claiming they were not aware. In my book From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire , I challenge leadership by asking, “ Is your culture a ticking time bomb?” - asserting the need for them to be mindful of what is going on in their organizations. 

It is impossible for people to lead without constantly determining how the people who they are responsible for feel, and why they feel the way they do. These perceptions are essential to being a mindful leader, yet so few leaders possess them.

The best example of a mindful leader is William DeWitt Hyde, President of Bowden College 1885 -1917. Consider all of the factors he was mindful of when he wrote, “The Offer of the College”

“To be at home in all lands and all ages;
to count Nature a familiar acquaintance;
and Art an intimate friend;
to gain a standard of appreciation of others work and the criticism of your own;
to carry the keys of the world’s library in your pocket;
and feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake;
to make hosts of friends... who are to be leaders in all walks of life;
to loose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends;
this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.”

Contrast this to the musings, behaviours and actions of the leader of the free world.

To be a great leader - ‘Be mindful of’.

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