Tiny Pushes
“The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”
–Helen Keller.
I came across this quote in an article featured by Jack Uldrich.
In almost all of Jack’s work, he talks about thinking, the power of thought. He is a proponent of taking time to think.
What I have been thinking about lately is ethics in the workplace.
Helen Keller’s statement is profound on many levels. What caught my head and heart is that she didn’t say “the tiny pushes of each worker” but rather, “the tiny pushes of each honest worker.”
With the breaking news of Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigning from Stanford and Francesca Gino’s highly publicized placement on administrative leave from Harvard Business School, this issue is now firmly in the spotlight.
A spotlight on honesty is a good thing. (Please know this is not a commentary about either of those professionals’ culpability in those circumstances.)
No matter how high we rise within an organization or how far we summit in our careers, honesty matters.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines honesty as “a refusal to lie, steal, or deceive in any way.”
If someone asks you how you are, and you reply, “Fine,” When you are not, in fact, fine, do you consider that a lie, a social nicety, a habit, or a boundary? Based on the definition, it is a lie. It may also be the other things; at its core, it’s also dishonest.
The poet Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant, success in circuit lies.” Was this advice or some crafty wordplay? We will never know. But she creates a statement that is worth the wonder.
How often do you, as a leader, tell the truth but tell it slant?
As a leader, I encourage you to remember that even as you strive to be a hero, you are still a part of the “aggregate,” and answering even the simplest of questions can be done so honestly.
Test your EQ (Emotional Quotient): If someone asks how you are and you are not fine, what could you honestly say instead?
Can you answer honestly?
Consider the impact if you named your emotion out loud rather than demuring with a mildly deceptive adjective.
Our daily heroics don’t remove us from the aggregate. An honest answer says more than words. It confirms our actions, creates alignment and clarity, and validates the perceptions of those around us.
Ethics matter. Start small. Just a few tiny pushes. And build from there.
