Be a Light in the Darkness

"It seems in every job I've ever worked everyone from managers to peers are so secretive" a mentee of mine once began a session. "I'm an open person and act that way. This brings on some strange looks from my colleagues as if to say 'Why are you being so naive?'" He was troubled and confused. He concluded by asking me "Why is this? You are a pretty open person. Is there any hope for people like us?".

The equation Knowledge = Power is well known and established. It should follow then that disseminating your knowledge is equivalent to disseminating your power and that can't ever be a good thing. Following that logic into absurdity will lead us to the conclusion that Teaching and Mentoring must be the worst activity in the world! How ridiculous! But the question above is really a great one: If everyone around me at work is secretive then shouldn't I be too?

I believe the answer is no!

Let's first examine the possible reasons for this secretiveness. Whenever I encounter a colleague who seems reticent or "closed up" the following thoughts pop into my head:

1. We haven't yet established a strong relationship so this person doesn't yet know or trust me.
2. This person is working on a project which requires him/her to 'keep things quiet' for business reasons.
3. This person may be intimidated or threatened by me for reasons I have yet to uncover.
4. This person feels a lack of job security and in general keeps knowledge to themselves to ensure continued employment.

You'll notice an underlying theme in all these reasons is TRUST. The person does not trust me or the work situation or their own value to the company (hence fear of unemployment should too much information be shared openly). One exception I'd like to point out is the "business reasons" possibility as there are legalities sometimes that do legitimately affect communication flow inside a company i.e. can't disseminate information for regulatory reasons so as to avoid making people 'inside traders'. Once I establish that there are no issues like that exception going on I try to understand which category the current situation falls under and work to address that.

Seeking to build open and trusting work relationships with each colleague one by one is a lengthy but extremely worthwhile process. It takes a lot of perseverance and openness - an openness which may not be reciprocated for awhile. And that's fine because your goal is to lead by example no matter where you are in the corporate food chain. By being the first one to open up you do make yourself vulnerable at the same time as you're making space for a trusting relationship in the midst of cynical mistrust. Like a candle being lit in a dark room each relationship will lighten and enlighten the environment. Hopefully others will follow and light candles of their own. It's very hard to keep something hidden in a well lit room.

And so back to my mentee I say to go ahead and be a light in the darkness. Being open is in and of itself a good thing (as long as you're being open in a legal and appropriate fashion, of course). People are mostly attracted to light. They may not change themselves necessarily but will be appreciative of your approach at the very least. Even better, you're likely to attract followers and together begin the long and important process of opening and improving your company's culture.