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We business-minded Americans put a high value on secret-keeping. There are good reasons: competition: If a competitor gets the right information about a competitor's product or plan it could literally be the end of that competitor's company. premature death: If a budding proposal leaks out inside the company or organization before it is properly prepared and presented it could get killed. This is a big danger when seeking informal advice from associates. feeling important: Secret-keeping makes the keepers feel important. Given the high degree of job insecurity that goes with the territory of high productivity in return for high wages, feeling important is a powerful need and motivator. Just think about this for a moment: how do you feel when the memo you receive is stamped "Confidential, destroy after reading"? What if you were invited to a high level company meeting at a getaway location, no calls in or out and not to be discussed with anyone? Secret-keeping is a form of validation. You could probably add more reasons why keeping secrets is important to your company. Important as secrets may be, however, there is a downside to consider. The Downside of Secret Keeping First, having to keep secrets is a stress producer. Secondly, keeping secrets is unproductive and obviously diminishes communication in the workplace. Why stressful, you might ask. The answer is subtle. When we are entrusted with a secret we are not free to talk about it. But that does not mean we never think about it. The natural human process is to talk with one another about our work and about what is running through our minds. The secret keeper, therefore, must constantly be on guard not to do this with the secret. Constantly. That makes thinking about the secret more difficult to turn off and more likely to take center stage in the theater of our mind. No one else know this is happening and therein lies
Slide 2: another source of stress: isolation. The human need and instinct is to find comfort and relief by connecting with one another over matters important. This is all the more true with the people who share work or personal life. Keeping a secret runs against this grain, creating an invisible barrier with the people who matter most. Unless the secret happens to be of monumental proportions the stress will likely be minimal. The Board tells you in confidence that they are considering end of the year bonuses: not too terribly stressful to keep this secret. Monumental would be if the Pentagon called you to describe a lethal virus being developed which could kill the entire world but you may not tell a single soul. The real stress about secret keeping is that it is always there and, if secret gets piled upon secret, all those little stresses start to add up like snow flurries that won't quit. To paraphrase the late Senator Dirksen about money, "a little stress here and a little stress there and pretty soon it is a lot of stress". Why unproductive? Secrets are information which cannot be shared. That's the rub: we cannot compare notes, be inspired, work together or contribute additional information and ideas to something we haven't heard about. The secret keeper cannot use the secret in any shared, productive process. If the secret has to do with a problem the secret keeper cannot engage the normal methods of problem solving by involving others for a solution. If the secret has to do with product or market development the important process of brainstorming and bouncing ideas off of others for reality-testing and creative suggestions must be suspended. In a nutshell: keeping secrets prevents the secret keeper from developing perspective based on interactive information. Without perspective any further action or decision is likely to be flawed. You will almost always look back and say it could have been better, why didn't we notice this or think of that? Bottom line: secret keeping may be flattering and may give rise to a sense of importance. Sometimes it is necessary. But it is a necessary evil, something that should be done very sparingly when there are absolutely no other options. It will produce stress and hurt communication. It is essentially a non productive mode of operating and should be followed by focused efforts to restore communication and shared problem solving. If secret keeping happens to be a prominent part of your management style it is time to review the management style and search for more productive approaches.
Losoncy is a licensed therapist, an executive coach and president of three corporations. Booking inquiries: mvpseminar@aol.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lawrence_Losoncy
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