It happens every boss --Whether by design or by accident-become bothered enough to do something about it. Take, for example, ousted Texaco senior executive Richard A. Lundwall who pulled the plug on his giant employer by releasing taped conversations revealing discriminatory hiring and promotion practices that had been going on for years.
To Lundwall's chagrin, this single moral act not only destroyed his career and many long friendships, but it seriously affected his health as well. Looking back, Lundwall harbors deep regret about his actions. If he had to do it again, chances are he would keep his mouth shut, thus avoiding an avalanche of negative publicity
Lundwall was conflicted about the company's biased hiring practices, but somehow managed to stomach it until the bleak day when he was summoned to an executive vice president's office and told his job would be eliminated.
Lundwall was devastated and almost rendered speechless by the news. After 30 years of faithful service, he couldn't understand how they could summarily end his career in the space of a 15-minute conversation.
Like many Texaco veterans, he had seen plenty of friends fired over the years. In fact, he himself had fired his fair share of people. But not in his worst nightmares did he dream it would happen to him. After all, he was the consummate company man and an inspiring success story in his own right. He began his career with Texaco by pumping gas as a service station attendant and rapidly moved up the ladder into management ranks. The company became his life, often coming before his family. Lundwall routinely worked late, giving up weekends and vacations. His three-decade stay at Texaco was a story of self-sacrifice. For Lundwall, being fired was like getting shot by a 12-gauge shotgun at point-blank range.
When he recovered from the devastating blow, he inter viewed for other positions in the company, but to no avail. At his angriest low point, he decided to get even by helping minority executives who had been building a discrimination suit. Lundwall proved a key player in the plaintiff s suit against the multinational company. Like many high-placed Texaco executives, Lundwall had conclusive proof that discriminatory hiring had been going on for years.
If Lundwall thought he had it bad after he was fired, his problems compounded the moment he agreed to help the minority executives. He became the center of an ugly lawsuit that made headlines in newspapers across the United States.
Diversity is a big issue these days, and it becomes national news when a Fortune 500 company that promotes itself as an equal-opportunity employer is accused of racism.
When the long drawn-out legal battle finally ended, Lundwall was left permanently scarred. He never considered that Texaco would retaliate with all the firepower it could muster. Not only was its image at stake, but the giant intended to get even with Lundwall for dragging the Texaco name through the mud. Lundwall quickly became humbled when his company cut off his sizable retirement benefits. If he had kept his mouth shut at least he would have had a secure income for the rest of his life. Now the former executive had to start over, a depressing thought for this self-made man who had been working since he was a teenager. He knew he had never find another job that would pay him a salary that even faintly approached what he was earning at Texaco.
Would he do it again? He told a New York Times reporter, "If I knew what was going to occur, no. In the real world you don't want to put your head in that guillotine."
Why Speak Up?
From Sexual Harassment T0 Life-or-Death Issues: If it makes you feel better, not all cases end as badly as Lundwall's run-in with Texaco. Most seldom get to the point where they are aired in the press and on the nightly news.
Typically there is a resolution that doesn't end up with the destruction of someone's career.
While justice was served by Lundwall spilling the beans about Texaco's discriminatory hiring practices, his motives were not totally altruistic. Yet, on countless occasions, speaking out is a necessity. The number of sexual harassment cases, for example, has mushroomed over the last few years. After decades of enduring inappropriate and offensive behavior from overbearing bosses, employees have discovered there are legal recourses that can correct the situation without risking the loss of their jobs.
On another level, there are occasions when not speaking out can carry life-or-death implications. Countless times, ethical employees have pulled the plug on bosses who condoned dangerous practices or procedures, such as unsanitary packaging methods, the use of outdated assembly-line equipment, or substandard inspection procedures, to name a few. Because of the problem, lives have been lost and workers have been seriously, even permanently, disfigured.
A few years back, the owner of a multimillion-dollar meat packing plant was charged with using substandard equipment and implementing inhumane work procedures under which workers had lost fingers and hands because the assembly line was speeded up to increase productivity. During exhausting 4-hour shifts, workers raced to keep up with the assembly line on which they were required to cut cattle with dangerous power tools. Making matters worse, the equipment was seldom upgraded or replaced because the boss had been paying off the government inspectors whose job it was to make sure the meat-packing equipment was safe.
In other cases, workers in drug manufacturing plants have reported their bosses for using unsanitary packaging methods. There have even been a couple of cases in which managers at nuclear power plants turned in their senior management for not repairing leaks which not only endangered the lives of workers but also those of millions of residents in the surrounding communities.
When lives are at stake, the obvious question is: Can you afford not to speak up? Could you live with yourself if people were killed because of an accident or disaster caused by something you failed to report? You risk paying a lifelong price for your silence.
The Worst That Will Happen
Thankfully, most of us work at jobs where we don't have to report bosses for committing unlawful, immoral, or unethical acts. However, it's good to know that you can speak out without facing retaliatory measures such as having your legs broken or your family threatened. That's precisely what happened in the early 1900s when many powerful robber baron entrepreneurs ran companies with an iron fist. Suffice it to say that not too long ago you could actually put your life in danger by speaking out against your boss.
Today, fortunately, the worst that could happen is you risk getting fired. In some emancipated companies, even that's rare. IBM and a few other blue-chip companies actually encourage employees to bring up complaints so they can be investigated, with the accuser remaining anonymous. Others make a point of saying there will be no retaliation for speaking out against an injustice, whether it relates to a company policy or a deviant boss.
Warning: Be wary of company hype. Know what's fact and what's public relations fiction. Many big companies that depend on a spotless image to sell products will try to milk diversity and environmental issues for all they are worth. But whether they practice what they preach is another matter. It's up to you to find out. The same applies to mechanisms for reporting wrongdoing.
Most of us have been taught to protect our bosses. That's a carryover from the days when companies actually guaranteed lifetime employment, and loyal workers held one job for their entire career. In the face of more than 15 years of corporate downsizing, job security is part of a bygone era.
You Can Speak Out and Win If You Do It Properly
If you're going to speak out, here are some tips for doing it properly:
- Gauge the playing field. Evaluate the level of risk and possible outcomes. Know what you're getting into from the onset. Even under the best circumstances, it's impossible to predict the outcome. Don't attempt to be a hero at a traditional or conservative company that promotes and protects its managers. Your chances will be similarly slim at tightly controlled family-run companies. Their unwritten credo is almost always: "Protect family members at all cost." You stand your best chances at liberated, well-managed, large and mid-sized companies with a history of promoting employee welfare, enrichment, and empowerment programs.
You expect large companies to support employee rights, but there are also plenty of small liberated companies run by emancipated MBAs where real change is taking place.
- Rally the troops. If the environment is right for speaking up against a corrupt boss, don't do it alone. Gather a support team. There is great truth in the cliché, "There is strength in numbers." First, the battle could get bloody, so it pays to have troops supporting you throughout the tough period. And second, the more support you have, the better your chances of succeeding. Management and the public won't just see a lone disgruntled whistle-blower seeking revenge, but instead will see workers fighting an injustice.
- Play by the rules. Don't be naive and think a boss accused of wrongdoing won't retaliate. Remember what happened to Lundwall at Texaco. The former executive never anticipated the devastating fusillade that destroyed his retirement by wiping out his pension benefits.
It 's also critical that you play by the rules. In fact, the cleaner you play the better your chances of success. If there are protocols for filing complaints and reporting wrongdoing, follow them to the letter. Document every step of the battle. If the potential case involves embezzlement, stealing, or life-or-death issues where employees or customers are in danger, make multiple copies of notes and correspondence and make sure your attorney has a complete file. The more diligent you are about guarding and carefully chronicling your evidence, the better your chances of winning.
o Listen to your gut and play hunches. There is no logic to following instinct and listening to unexplainable gut feelings. I simply urge you to do it. If something doesn't feel right or if you have a strange premonition about making a certain move, heed your inner voice. You may pat yourself on the back in the end.
Finally, a word of advice: Be carefull! Calling a boss on wrongdoing is serious stuff. Proceed with the utmost caution.
