The Compromise Trap: 1/19 VisionHolder Interview

The Compromise Trap: How to Thrive at Work Without Selling Your Soul with Elizabeth Doty, of WorkLore.

This evening's call with Elizabeth Doty was another in a wonderful series with evolutionary leaders of speaking to living a life of wholeness and integrity. Like all of our VisionHolders, Elizabeth holds a vision for a world that works not just for the individual, but for everyone. The topic of unhealthy compromise at work is VERY important to the transformation of our organizations and the people who care about them.

The Compromise Trap helps you tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy compromise, and how to stay true to yourself and be a positive force in your organization. Some key components of the book:

Some key components of the book: the 10 Misconceptions about Compromise at work, Six Personal Foundations that bolster your courage, the 5 Positive Plays that one can take for a fulfilling life, concluding with It’s Bigger Than a Game.

Those on the call heard a compassionate real voice of experience from this Harvard MBA and former corporate manager on how to navigate the world of a commitment to reality and a commitment to integrity. She left us with an energetic question and a big vision:

How do people reconcile the contrast between what they care about as people, with the societal challenges that the organizations they work for may sometimes contribute to creating, intentionally or not?

What if each person stood up to take one small step for change and leadership? What might happen?

[Based on over fifty candid interviews with businesspeople at all levels, including vivid firsthand accounts of compromise and courage, Elizabeth details an inspiring strategy for staying true to yourself at work while contributing to your organization’s effectiveness and integrity.]

Comments

[Elizabeth Doty]

Just a quick note to Craig, Patricia, Heartland Circle, and everyone who took the time to call in and reflect together on this subject. Thank you for your attention -- it was a pleasure to be with you.

Also, Brian, I realized later that I had not responded about the emotional costs when people give too much at work. Thank you for the question -- I think it is very important and gets to the heart of why unhealthy compromise becomes a trap. In reflecting on my interviews, I found that people routinely underestimated the costs of compromise -- including the stress, the numbness and loss of acuity when we tune out the stress, the precedents we set with bullies, the disruption of trusted relationships. And, as you suggested, these emotional costs affect the company -- both in terms of the effort people invest and the quality of their decision-making. I find the data from The Sirota Group to be most compelling on this -- they show a measureable increase in "discretionary effort" and business results when employees are engaged in their organizations (ie, there is little compromise). Even more surprisingly, they show that employees generally start out engaged and grow disengaged over time -- I believe largley as a consequence of where they feel they are pressed to compromise. If you want more on these costs, Chapter 2 of the book goes into more detail. In addition, here is a link to the paper at Sirota that I cite: http://www.sirota.com/pdfs/Pride_The_Hidden_Corporate_Asset.pdf.

All the best -- please feel free to contact me at worklore.com or compromisetrap.com, as Craig mentioned.