Speaking to power

One the most obvious signs of a healthy person or healthy organization is when people can safely speak to power.

How are you in this area?

Are you approachable?  Can you be questioned and even respectfully challenged?  Or do you resent and avoid people who question you?

And what about the people of power in your life.  Are you secure enough to respectfully approach them with your concerns?  Are they secure enough?

“Some say our national pastime is baseball. Not me. It’s gossip.”

Erma Bombeck

We often hear about the danger and destructiveness of gossip. 

There is a direct connection between the issue of speaking to power and gossip—it’s not gossip if you’re talking to the person who is best qualified to deal with the issue on your mind.  It is gossip if you aren’t. 

Perhaps that is why gossip is so prevalent in so many organizations, people would rather grouse and grip to those around them than to speak power. 

And the sad thing is, those in power are often so insecure that they would rather deal with the gossip than with the truth.

The ONE THING for today: Your ability to speak to power tells you a lot about your health and the health of your organization.