A culture of honesty begins at the top, fostered by agency leadership

William J. M. Wald, CPRP IPRA Chief Executive Officer It might be time to revisit the importance of being honest with yourself as this turbulent year reaches an end.

How many times do you invoke the word "honest" in your everyday conversations?

"To be honest," you say. "Honestly," you begin. "I was honestly surprised," you assert.

But as our society breaks down over time— fueled by stress, too much responsibility and too many demands (mediated by little or no time to accomplish all that you wish)—has the concept of honesty become a cliche and gone the way of civility?

As human beings under enormous pressure to please our boards, serve our patrons, nurture our employees and colleagues and still have enough reserve energy left over for our personal lives, honesty often takes a beating. We say were fine when we are not. We lie about the reasons we can or cant do things. We fudge the truth in hopes of not being caught doing something we know we shouldn't.

For many of us, being less than honest helps us get through the day in some semblance of harmony. Consider the last time someone asked your opinion on his or her new haircut!

Notwithstanding laughable examples of avoiding inflicting harm on someone else's ego, it might be time to revisit the importance of being honest with yourself as this turbulent year reaches an end. It might surprise you to know that being honest can simplify your life. I'll tell you how.

First, ask yourself this question: Who sets the tone for honesty at your agency? You'll rightly conclude that we all take our lead from the top. If supervisors and managers exhibit honesty, it's likely employees will follow suit, being more forthcoming when the time comes to fess up to problems, conflict and mistakes. While nobody likes to be blamed for things that have gone wrong, being honest enough to initiate dialogue about mistakes you have made in the past speaks volumes about your character to the people you work with.

Looking for a beacon of direction to help you live your life more honestly? David Tabak, executive director of the Catholic Guild for the Blind, has come up with half a dozen simple guidelines we can all use when we're caught at a crossroads between honesty and dishonesty. We found his list compelling enough to adopt and hope you will, too.

• The first, "admit your own mistakes," is likely to be difficult to internalize and practice because we live in a culture of blame. People loathe taking responsibility for things that go wrong because they fear punishment, retribution and other serious consequences.

But, think about this: suppose you were to set a consistent example of taking responsibility for your mistakes? Imagine yourself seeking one opportunity a day to say, "I was wrong," "I made a mistake," or "That was my error." Colleagues are bound to take a cue from you and your behavior could go a long way to setting a positive example.

• In addition to becoming more comfortable about admitting your mistakes, there are other things you can do to promote honesty. If you're in a position to hire, you could literally make a commitment to building a staff of honest people. Placing integrity on the same plane as job skills, education and training may seem silly at first, but think about it. Change the climate and you change behaviors. Its likely

8 Illinois Parks and Recreation

you'll see an immediate shift in the degree of honesty exhibited by employees if honesty is actively expected, encouraged and rewarded.

• As difficult as the concept of "admitting ones own mistakes" may be, there's a facet of honesty that's an equally turbulent real roller coaster to manage: Holding people accountable for their actions. This can be a tough balancing act because some situations do call for blame-placing while others don't.

Consider an employee who tries something new and fails. Should they be called on the carpet and given the same dressing down as someone who knew up-front they were doing something wrong, yet did it anyway? Can a staffer fearful of reprisal in a single situation be viewed in the same light as an employee who consistently acts dishonestly? These are tough calls, but if you've committed yourself to run an honest workplace, you'll have an easier time differentiating between situations.

Let's get back to establishing an overall environment of honesty at your agency. Launching this effort can be made smoother with the creation of a code of conduct. If you already have one, make sure it hasn't been sitting around since Ben Franklin tried his kite trick. Times change. So do circumstances. Review yours and make modifications if necessary. If you haven't established a code of conduct for your agency, what are you waiting for? The statement should explain that honesty will be used as criteria for evaluating staff, then back up those words with actions.

If honesty has become a problem at your agency, understand that staff can be blamed just so many times before there's a need to search further for causes. Have you asked yourself whether your system is faulty rather than your people? Has dishonest behavior been ignored, overlooked or—worst-case scenario—been rewarded? Faulty work systems can be hidden reasons for high turnover, low morale and productivity problems. When the core of the apple is rotten, there's no way the fruit can hold together—no matter how tough its skin.

Finally, is it possible to balance honesty with discretion? You better believe it is. When honesty is delivered with sensitivity, tact and thoughtfulness, people are able to accept it and will begin to look forward to your feedback without lurching into a panic.

Ultimately, they'll know they can trust you to be honest about their confidences, too. There's nothing wrong with saying, "I'd love to share that information with you, but its a confidential issue, so I hope you understand the constraints I'm under to keep the matter private."

Look around. Witness the trouble major corporations have gotten themselves into as their leaders have walked willingly into lies that have toppled industry giants and pushed innocent people out onto the street. Next, imagine what might have happened to Enron, WorldCom and all the other companies currently under the microscope of scrutiny if their CEOs had simply been honest.

Illinois Parks and Recreation   9