Page 6 - PR Communication Age - JUNE 2016
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Limits of Trust and Candor The question that is often asked is where one should draw
a line between minor snags and major complications.
In any organization, it is natural for people with less au- Handled promptly and decisively, problems in the grey area
thority and power to be wary about disclosing mistakes, sometimes turn out to be matters of little consequence. But
failings and weaknesses to their superiors - especially when overly self-confident or inexperienced subordinates might
the boss is the more powerful party in a position to evalu- attempt to prove that they could cope on their own and
ate and punish. The saying, "TRUST FLEES AUTHORITY" or, there lies the misadventure or disaster.
above all "TRUST FLEES A JUDGE", is not said without rel-
evance or validation. Politics is another major hurdle against candor. Organiza-
tions have political systems and employees are often in-
Managers are inescapably positioned to judge subordinates. volved in political games. No manager can assume that his/
Good managers may consciously seek to confine evaluation her subordinates would always be on his/her side. Manag-
and appraisal to formal occasions and even to communi- ers cannot not insulate themselves and keep their personal
cate criticism in a positive, constructive way with a view in feelings from interfering with their business judgement.
making the employee learn from mistakes and not repeat
them. But it hardly seems possible to obviate completely a In a market driven by competition, where even units and
subordinate's disposition to see superiors more as judges subunits within an organization often compete with each
than just as bosses. other,fears and misdoubts often rupture conventionally and
even establish lines of communication in the belief "survival
So, one of the serious barriers to candor is self-protection. of the fittest". Business idealism is more of a myth than a
Very often people hide mistakes and failures of their own and reality and what prevails in most organizational situations
their departments in the belief that they will correct them- is "practical considerations". One cannot wish away poli-
selves. Some subordinates seek to protect their own subor- tics altogether however much they try and hence the more
dinates to protect themselves and some subordinates even realistic course is to adapt to politics as a part of the struc-
go to the extent of protecting a customer. Many subordi- ture and learn to live."Live and let live" helps one in shap-
nates believe that solving problems on their own is very much ing things better to one's use and benefit.
part of their job and that is what they are paid to do, and in
many cases they are right. Subordinates are not expected Building and Destroying Trust
to run to their bosses with every glitch and hiccup.
Given the natural obstacles to trust and candor - dislike,
But the pain is when problems become more serious and fear, jealously, pride, politics, hubris, prejudice - managers
intractable and managers need to know them in good time. need to make the most of whatever opportunities they have
to enhance subordinates' trust. Trust is not easy to build
even in the best of circumstances and the kind of trust that
concerns managers has to grow on rocky land - between
people of different levels of authority. The factors affecting
the growth of trust and candor fall into six different cat-
egories: Communication, Support, Fairness, Respect, Pre-
dictability and Competence.
Communication is not just a post office job of pushing up or
pushing down messages, letters, and information but more
of a matter of keeping one's subordinates, peers and supe-
riors regularly posted with information and data concern-
ing the organization and the job on hand, explaining deci-
"There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary."
6 PR COMMUNICATION AGE June 2016
