Justice and Responsibility Take Root

My direct responsibility with anything truly related to human resources came slowly, very slowly. Since the behavior-based safety role I had held for so long was being filled internally, the process took a few months. Most of my time during the transition was dedicated to keeping the BBS plates spinning with just a toe in the HR waters. I remember sitting in on a couple of interviews for other positions being filled internally and less than half a dozen with external candidates. I got involved in a different phase of the new employee orientation process, but I had been in that mix for years so the only difference was the policies I covered and the paperwork I needed to collect. Otherwise, I can’t remember much in the way of on-the-job-training.

June to August of 2012 was something of a whirlwind, for several reasons. My successor was finally allowed to move into the behavior-based safety position so I did what I could to help him get acclimated. Our facility experienced the most management level turnover we had ever seen. Nearly half of the local executive positions were filled with new faces, and several of those came from the same external organization. During that same time, Cindy and I were beginning to hear rumblings of some potential issues in our side business.

Mike was one of several extremely qualified candidates for the BBS role. While it took longer than anyone would have liked for him to get released from his previous department (because he was extremely effective there too), he hit the ground running. My initial goal was to allow him to take ownership of a process so many in the facility correlated so closely to me but still provide him with the support he’d need to get his feet under him. In complete transparency, I thought my biggest struggle there would be letting go of something I had invested so much time and energy into. I had no idea what was in store for me…

In early August, during one of the rare times that Cindy and I actually took a vacation, I got a call from my HR manager the day before we came back. She told me that she had submitted her resignation and her last day with the company was just two weeks away. Those two weeks passed so quickly I can barely remember it. What I recall vividly was how fast I went from just having a toe in the HR waters to being over my head in the deep end of the pool. Gloria was the only other person in human resources locally at that point and had effectively become my work-mom over the years. She already had more than she could do on any given day so I took on anything the new plant manager didn’t specifically tell me not to do. We had some support from our corporate office, both in filling the department manager role and in keeping me from screwing up everything I touched, but that was on an every other week basis since that guy had a job of his own to fulfill.

One of the responsibilities I took on almost immediately was the grievance process for employees who felt they had been issued disciplinary action that wasn’t consistent or didn’t align with company policy. Remember that tenth leadership attribute, the “Willingness to Assume Full Responsibility”? Not everyone does… That said, I soon learned that not every supervisor or manager administering disciplinary action was doing so justly or consistently either. And that resulted in me getting more involved in every aspect of the disciplinary process than I could have ever imagined, which wasn’t all that big of a stretch since I had some involvement in that through the incident investigations I had been a part of for years. There were numerous incident reviews where I pushed back (hard) against write-ups being given to employees who were injured; not because they hadn’t violated some sort of safety policy but because no one routinely addressed the contributing behavior otherwise.

Building on that experience in safety, the peer review process forced me to lean even further into that “Keen Sense of Justice”, Hill’s third leadership attribute. It also pushed me to dig deeper into the mastery of detail I had started developing through those years of scarcity, ensuring any disciplinary action given was specifically written and administered consistently. I still had no positional authority but the influence I worked so hard to earn for years was crucial in every aspect of my new role, and I still had no idea just how much I’d need to draw from all of that experience soon after.

Before we look at the storm that had been brewing in our side business, I’ll stress that a keen sense of justice isn’t (always) loud indignation. I somewhat quietly refused to accept less than I was worth in the global behavior-based safety role and the HR role became a platform for frequently pushing for that same kind of justice for the folks I worked with. Whether it was me personally or one of the team members who had been issued some form of disciplinary action though, owning our part in the result is mandatory - whether that’s the societal norm or not. My challenge for you right now is to revisit the negotiation you listed before where you may have been driven more by fear than principle. What seed of greater purpose might (still) be hidden? Identify one thing you can do right away to nurture that seed.

When Opportunity Turns Toxic

Just so it’s fresh in our minds, let’s revisit how Hill defined his third leadership attribute, a keen sense of justice. He shared that “Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of followers.” I’ve emphasized this in each of my books and with every group, large or small, that Cindy and I speak with; leadership comes from the influence we earn by actively serving those counting on us. It has nothing to do with title, position, or authority - regardless of how many people consider themselves as leaders solely because those reporting to them are required to follow their commands.

Before I move on, please know that I’m not attacking the idea of multi-level marketing here. We learned a lot through our involvement over the years. I am, however, about to drive home a point that when values are more show than go, and purpose is used more for manipulation than empowerment, bad situations are inevitable.

Not long after I transitioned into the HR role, and well before I developed a solid understanding of workplace law, a few ladies in our “downline” pulled Cindy aside individually to express what ended up being identical concerns. Both were relatively reserved and far enough removed from our routine activity that we weren’t around them very much. Almost as if it had been scripted, they both shared the same scenario where a male between us and them told each of them (and other single ladies) that he’d only work with them if they slept with him.

Human resources and appropriate workplace behavior aside, I still believe in a high degree of chivalry. I refuse to let Cindy carry heavy things and I hold the door for her every chance I get; not because she isn’t capable, but because I believe that’s one way of being the protector God intended me to be. With that as context, I doubt you’ll be surprised to know how mad I got when Cindy shared this issue with me. Rather than following my initial and very primal urge to absolutely pummel that character-less piece of shit, I opted to follow the organizational hierarchy by taking the issue to my direct “upline”. In complete transparency, he and I always had an on-again/off-again relationship; on-again when he needed something from me and off-again when he didn’t. The on-again ended completely when I brought the issue to his attention.

At that point, I was aware of two challenges this created for him. He’d actually have to assume responsibility for handling a tough situation and he’d have to do it with someone who sucked up to him in every possible way. It was far easier for him to blow me off since I was clearly not one of his yes-men. And unfortunately both ladies who shared the issue to Cindy were terrified of any possible attention it would have placed on them and were unwilling to provide the details for anyone else.

Bad situations can hide inside any type of opportunity. Moral dilemmas test whether purpose is just talk or something worth financial (and personal) cost, and I’ll share a little bit of what choosing morals cost us - at least related to that situation - shortly. Right now, I’ll challenge you to think about one “opportunity” in your life that began to feel misaligned. Detail the hidden costs you may not have noticed before. Our stance in that situation was costly at the moment, not sticking to our values would have carried a far higher price tag.

The Moral Stand and the Cost of Ostracism

From the moment Cindy shared the issue those ladies brought to her, I was absolutely done with the individual they mentioned. There had been a plethora of other red flags leading up to that, but this was indeed the final straw. The fellow I presented the situation to for resolution not only blew it off completely, he did everything in his power to discredit me and Cindy with anyone who would listen to him. There were, however, a very select few who had seen through his crap and backed us - one of which, at least temporarily, was his brother.

I’ll spare you the details that followed, but I will share that had I been six months to a year deeper into my human resources career and had a more comprehensive understanding of how to handle a sexual harassment claim, the year or so that followed would have played out much differently. The short version of how that year unfolded included many of the folks we had spent the majority of our time outside of our full time jobs with, much of that time away from our kids, being painted a picture of just how devious and undermining Cindy and I were. Many of those people, some of which we considered close friends, either kept us at arms length or severed their relationship with us completely. I remember one conversation where the guy I was supposed to be able to trust implicitly told me in no uncertain terms that we were no longer welcome anywhere in the entire organization. While he was successful in ostracizing us locally and with the people who willingly drank his Kool-Aid, I was quick to let him know he wasn’t nearly as influential as he thought he was.

While he did not have the power to remove us from the organization altogether, much of the damage was already done. We did what we could to work through it, but there was no measurable return on investment in the few years that followed - at least not financially. That said, think back to the idea all we’ve been working through has been based on, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit,” IF we find it and nurture it. I estimate that what unfolded in 2012 and our eventual decision to step away from that side business altogether in 2015 has likely cost us no less than $100,000 each year since (tied to that opportunity). Interestingly enough, there are plenty of ways to make money. Once it’s sacrificed, though, character is rarely regained. Standing for justice often means standing alone. The willingness to assume full responsibility for the consequences is leadership in its rawest form.

We’ve since recognized greater opportunities than we could have imagined from the seed of that adversity. We’ll look at that, and the difficult process of nurturing those seeds soon. Before that, I want you to identify one pattern or relationship needing a principle pivot. Then commit to one clear first step - and track it!