July 29, 2010
Ethics in Action
The Ethical Lapse the Best of Us Succumb To
There’s a sin that I committed almost daily through much my work life, not through obstinacy but because I didn’t realize that I was doing anything wrong. I’d wager many people reading this column routinely commit the same transgression. It’s ingrained in the culture and human nature, and rarely condemned from the pulpit or by ethicists.
Before I name it, let me give some examples.
-
When a woman I knew from my previous worksite transferred to what was then my current location, a lot of colleagues approached me to get the scoop on what she was like. I knew her quite well, and freely shared what I knew. She was experienced, knowledgeable, and had a good sense of humor. She was also preoccupied by outside pursuits, and often feigned a huge workload to dodge assignments and play hooky.
-
A VP quietly informed me that a new senior manager with the company – a man I distrusted – had a skeleton in his closet. He’d left his previous job in disgrace because of a scandal involving the use of public funds for private perks and pleasures. I made sure my staff and others learned of his history, since it nicely confirmed my own view that the guy was sleazy.
One of the things that helped me a lot was observing a leader who wouldn't indulge in detraction. The gentleman was a senior VP, and he chaired a leadership team on which I sat. The power of his example made the entire team a No Detraction Zone. |
Our culture has a huge blindspot with regard to the damage of detraction. Since the faults a detractor reveals are true (and often intriguing as well), many people don’t view the practice as unethical, much less sinful. They might or might not see the harm inflicted by their gossip, but even when they do, they might shrug it off as the "just desserts" of the flaw they’ve exposed: “If you don’t want the world to think you’re a villain or fool, stop acting like one.”
But ethicists and many religious traditions take a very dim view of detraction. From an ethical standpoint, it violates the Silver Rule: Don’t do unto others what you wouldn’t want to be done unto you. Theologically, it’s viewed as a sin against justice and charity, because it inflicts harm on another person’s reputation for no good reason. (If you harm a reputation to prevent even greater harm, it’s not detraction.)
Winners, Losers, and Schadenfreude
Detraction is a fitting topic for this column because it’s one of the hallmarks of a dominant Level 2, ego-driven culture. In organizations where colleagues battle each other for power and status, detraction may be the most common weapon deployed to win or retaliate for losing. Fr. Robert Spitzer described the dynamic this way in his Journey to Excellence lectures:
What happens to a “loser’ from an emotional point of view? Well the first thing, obviously, is jealousy, and you know what jealousy can do. It makes you want to go out and harm the other person’s reputation as much as you can. Why? Because it makes me feel so much better! I actually feel a tremendous sense of relief when something goes wrong with you. The Germans call it Schadenfreude, which mean enjoyment obtained from the trouble of others.
The “winners,” needless to say, don’t behave any better. One never feels more justified in disclosing another’s flaws than when that person is viewed as a threat or potential usurper. By contrast, one of the hallmarks of a contributive, Level 3 culture is a strong tendency to look for the good news in others, not the bad news.
As I confessed above, I had my own blindspot regarding detraction, and I wish I could boast it’s completely gone, but it’s not. But one of the things that helped me a lot was observing a leader who refused to indulge in it. The gentleman was a senior VP, and he chaired a leadership team on which I sat. The power of his example made the entire team a No Detraction Zone. If you violated the norm and spoke ill of someone, the response was a terse admonishment (“Let’s keep the discussion positive, please”), or worse, prolonged, stony silence.
The latter sometimes occurred when someone came before the team to make a report, and wrongly assumed that badmouthing others was fine if you did so cleverly. I have to admit it was gratifying to see the detractor’s face when he realized the dart he aimed at an absent foe had morphed into a boomerang.
Quite often, it’s hard to see how dirty the paint on a wall has become until you take down a picture and see an unblemished rectangle of rebuke. The same holds true for organizational cultures. As a leader, you can blend into the grime of detraction, or you can stand out in a positive way and inspire those you lead to do the same.
By John Keenan, Editor
Return to the Home
Last changed: Aug 26 2009 at 10:26 AM