What Works for Business: Let’s Get Honest
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Mon, 07/04/2022 - 9:30am
Have you ever caught someone, even yourself, being a little less than honest? Maybe you, or an employee, didn’t charge a customer because of some idea of a future return. Or, it could be a manager giving one employee a little extra time off because of personal preference.
Whether one has power or no power at all dishonesty is a risk that must be dealt with in business (Telli, et. al., 2020). One does not need to be known as a “dishonest person” for it to happen either (Telli, et. al., 2020). Knowing the root cause of dishonest urges, and dishonesty in others will make you a better leader.
Dishonesty occurs when there is a fear of loss (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017). The loss of something that is of self-interest can be a powerful motivator. The idea is to train yourself and others to notice dishonest temptations and actively challenge them to promote proactive integrity (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017). Because I am currently a student pursuing a doctorate of education in organizational change and leadership, academic honesty is top of mind and draws many parallels to honesty in general. I like to draw comparisons between business and other scenarios.
Omission and dishonesty are more likely to occur when those who commit it fear pressure from those they consider peers (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017). Performance anxiety can be a powerful motivator. When someone feels they can’t live up to the demands they put on themselves, or the demands of others, the path opens up for shortcut temptation. This feeling of “I must ‘be’ a certain way or I will be judged” or a fear of failure connected with unfamiliar territory becomes the fuel for the fire of dishonesty (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017). This results in self-justification, making excuses for dishonest behavior in an effort to backpedal from the dishonest act (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017).
So how do you combat this as a leader? Creating a psychologically safe space is a strong first line of defense against dishonesty (Edmondson, 2019).
Familiarizing with consequences is one line of defense (Whitley & Keith-Spiegel, 2017). But it shouldn’t be your only tactic as a leader. When you create a psychologically safe space, you take action to actively remove the fear that someone will be humiliated for speaking up immediately (Edmondson, 2019). This will make them more likely to call attention to mistakes, bring up concerns, ask questions, or provide new ideas (Edmondson, 2019). This is the environment that fosters creativity and innovation (Agarwal & Farndale, 2017).
In future columns, I will explore the idea of creating this safety in a variety of contexts. It is my hope this column will educate you and improve your toolkit as an empathetic leader. When you do this employees will readily show up, add value to your business, and be freer to share innovative ideas with you. And that, my friends, results in a profitable business. The floor is yours, Carson City.
References:
Agarwal, P. & Farndale, E. High-performance work systems and creativity implementation: the role of psychological capital and psychological safety. Human Resource Management Journal. 2017;27(3):440-458. doi:10.1111/1748-8583.12148
Edmondson, A.C. The Fearless Organization : Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. 1st edition. Wiley; 2019.
Telli, D., Espartel, L.B., Araujo, C.F., Basso, K. Dishonesty is contagious: Investigating the domino effect of dysfunctional customer behaviors. Revista de administração de emprêsas. 2020;60(1):7-19. doi:10.1590/S0034-759020200103
Whitley, J. & Keith-Spiegel, P. Fostering Academic Integrity in the Classroom. In: Academic Dishonesty. Psychology Press; 2002:53-91. doi:10.4324/9781410604279-10
About Diane Dye Hansen
Diane Dye Hansen is the Chief Management Consultant of What Works Consultants (WWC), a management consulting firm headquartered in Carson City. WWC helps service-focused companies with change management through the practice of research, process improvement, internal communication, and people operations. Diane is the author of the "Creating Critical Opportunity" workbook and a contributor to the book "Reno Rising." She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Cal State San Bernardino, a Master of Communication Management from the University of Southern California, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education (EdD) in Organizational Change and Leadership from the University of Southern California. She has been a resident of Carson City for 11 years. The firm's research is released monthly on its website, www.whatworksconsultants.com.
