Tag Archives: truth

  • 20
    Jul 21
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finding truth

Finding Truth And Pink Volkswagon Beetles

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How much time or effort do you spend finding truth? Is truth really about facts or is it more about belief?

In religion, many people insist that they are stating facts, yet they actually may be stating beliefs.

Scientific research is sometimes based on belief. You might examine it statistically. Is it a null hypothesis? Could it be true?

We often struggle for truth or facts. Many turn to the internet for answers.

Is Wikipedia a valid source? What about YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter? Who decides?

In a general sense, each individual decides. Does belief make it real?

Finding Truth

There is an old story that suggests you find what you look for.

You might have heard the story connected to pink Volkswagon Beetles. Very low production numbers suggest that not many people have seen a pink Volkswagon Beetle but yet if you start watching for one, it may appear.

In the workplace, we might turn to data. Where does the data come from?

If we see it with our own eyes, if we experience it, is it real, valid, and true?

Daniel Simons, and Christopher Chabris, tested our seeing is believing in 1999 with the students passing the basketball test. If you have experienced this test on selective attention, you will realize that seeing may be believing although it may not be the truth.

What is the truth?

The truth may very well be what you believe.

For your job, your career, or your business endeavor, the first and perhaps most important step is believing.

Belief often creates truth.

Or so it seems.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

  • 04
    May 20
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show your work

Show Your Work and Workplace Truth

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There are lots of alternatives. We can masquerade around the workplace or illustrate real effort. Do you show your work?

Mistrust in workplace teams, society, or media outlets seems commonplace. Sometimes it is easily recognized, other times it is in disguise.

Trust issues can stem from many things. Including unconscious or misinterpreted acts.

Closed doors.

Narrowing the number of invitations for the meeting.

A conversation that stops when you enter the room.

What is in your non-verbal communication? What is the workplace truth?

Transparency Means Progress

Transparency is a popular word. People seek transparency in government, in workplaces, and even among friends and family.

Transparency means the curtain has been lifted, the veil pulled back, and what remains is the truth.

Organizations probably have more to gain from transparency than they realize.

There is the wasted time of gossip. The consequences of miscommunication and how it effects morale and productivity. Workplace effectiveness decreases when the effort is cloaked in black or shades of gray.

Closed doors, side conversations, and the meeting after the meeting. What is the message?

Are you saying something when you say nothing? What do your actions illustrate?

Is there trust?

Progress happens with less effort when trust is present.

You should show your work.

Show Your Work

Are you role modeling the principles that you suggest you stand behind?

Everyone brings forward an honest truth when they show their work.

Role models are everywhere. Even when no one believes that anyone is watching.

There is a simple truth to transparency.

Show your work.

Be what you say.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

  • 13
    Apr 20
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louder voices

Louder Voices Aren’t Always Smarter Voices

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Do you believe everything you hear? Are the people with louder voices saying the right things?

Everyone has a choice for what they choose to believe. It is true for politics, religion, and even our actions and behaviors in public or in your workplace.

Most people are familiar with the concept of the squeaky wheel. The notion that the person who makes the most noise gets the attention.

Is it true?

The best answer is, sometimes.

Louder Voices

Workplace leaders should always self-reflect on what sparks their ideas and directions for making business decisions. We all process information, it may be information we seek or it may be information we stumble upon.

Louder is a metaphorical expression, not necessarily connected to volume. It’s true, some people are just louder than others.

In modern circles louder often comes from the network. The community of people who come together with similar ideas, values, or beliefs. They tend to shout, sometimes loudly, and they are often heard.

When evidence seems to appear that corroborates the noise they recently received, it becomes an apparent truth.

While it is important for everyone to consider the information they give. It is just as important to consider the information you receive.

In workforce circles there is often a discussion of workplace politics. It has to do with how people navigate the boss, the circles of gossip, rumors, and the content of the secret meeting.

Louder voices seem to often get the stage and the microphone.

Just because they are louder it doesn’t mean it is smarter.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

  • 23
    May 19
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changing times

The Workplace Impact of Fear During Changing Times

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People will often quickly agree that their workplace is affected by changing times. Times, they are changing, yet what is really happening in your workplace?

Do people fear change? Largely, yes, many people are very nervous and afraid of the impact of change on their job. Everything from promotion to demotion to the possibility of being terminated.

Fear can cause action, that is an absolute. Fear as a tactic to motivate people is usually not a good idea.

Changing Times

The less people understand about change, the more likely they are to fear it. Out of fear they may suggest there are ulterior motives. Yet perhaps, they just don’t want to face the truth.

Clumped together in a group, people may feel more power to slow down the change and shift it to a different direction. The presenting factor is that the change is a bad idea, the truth may be that they fear what is proposed to happen.

A mindset of, hide in numbers, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few is their anchor.

Those who are responsible for the change have a different view. They may look for resistors. Spot them. Ask questions. Get them talking.

In this manner the resistors become known, they’re spotted, and a designated action or reaction can occur.

It is the silent resistors that are the most troublesome. They cause fear for the change leaders. The change leaders wonder, “Who doesn’t agree with this change and what do they plan to do about it?”

Truth in Change

Perhaps if there was more truth, more transparency, and more concern about the impact on human capital our workplaces wouldn’t be so harshly impacted.

People are not just a tool. They are an investment.

In a World of constant change, the status quo may carry the most risk. Protect your investment by allowing change to happen for you, not to you.

Be honest.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

  • 22
    Jan 19
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being honest

Being Honest with Workplace Honesty

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Ask people if they trust their gut, and most will tell you that they do. Ask people if they are being honest and you’ll likely get an affirmative answer. How does anyone really know for sure?

We are built to perceive and judge. We assess our environment, we listen, we watch. Call it evolution or call it whatever you like, we observe our environment for risk.

We can talk about integrity, trust, or ethics. Much of it comes down to our perception.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

If we listen closely, we hear it all the time:

I’m going to be completely honest…

Being completely honest…

To be honest…

Honestly, I …

I’m not going to lie…

Yet people are choosing to believe or not. They choose to follow and trust their gut.

Their gut or instincts are based on factors of observation.

Is Seeing Believing?

Did they stutter? Are they acting nervous? Was there eye contact? Did their skin tone change? Are they sweating? What was the hand, feet, or body movement?

Not surprising, liars often have similar behaviors to the person who is telling the truth. Both liars and truth tellers may worry about your belief in their communication.

It can be suggested that liars have bad intentions and truthful people have good intentions. We can’t forget the evaluations of the reasoning for honesty.

“Are you planning a party for my birthday?”

“Who ate the last piece of chocolate cake?”

“Who is cooking fish in the microwave?”

Being Honest

We know the difference between truth and lies. We shouldn’t feel guilty or nervous when telling the truth, but we often do.

It is painful to think that we must be better about the way we communicate when we are being honest. It is an unfortunate evolutionary problem. The result of people scanning their environment to assess risk.

We are human. Most of us are not mind minders, fortune tellers, or meteorologists.

Be careful with your gut.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 09
    Jul 18
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trusted truth

Trusted Truth Is The Path For Consistent Success

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Persuasion seems to happen without purpose. People talk about what they like, what they saw, and how it felt. Are your messages trusted truth or just your opinions?

You have probably heard to be cautious when dealing with the used car salesperson. The used car salesperson is a stigma, a stigma often associated with getting you to buy in to just about anything that is being said.

Opinions are Slippery

In everyday life people typically speak through opinions.

We ate at the best restaurant.

We watched this movie last night, it was the best movie ever. 

I don’t go to Starbucks. I go only to Dunkin Donuts their coffee is so much better. 

In the workplace it takes on a different form.

The staff meetings are always boring.

He never completes his work on time and is always late.

I know the boss hates me. She criticizes everything I do.

All these statements may be far from fact. Are they trusted truth? Unlikely.

The best restaurant is an opinion. Words like always boring, never on time, and criticizes everything are probably nothing more than an opinion.

One of the biggest challenges for all this rhetoric is that those who are not really listening treat it as trusted truth.

It gets even worse when interactions are so opinionated that it is a truth when the message is delivered by one party, but another different party is shamed to not have any credibility with a similar message.

Trusted Truth

When you really want to make a difference in your conversations. When you want to bring trusted truth to your meetings and other workplace interactions you have to deliver facts.

Facts are much more consistent and reliable. Your operation, values, and beliefs when based on facts have greater merit. Operational systems work better and produce consistent results. Outcomes are more predictable and qualified.

Nearly always, your opinion cannot be a trusted truth.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 13
    Apr 18
  • 2
speaking the truth

Testimonials and Speaking The Truth

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Not so long ago I was on a telephone call with a potential client. During the call, the client was clicking through some of the features of my website and specifically wanted to see customer testimonials. It causes me to wonder, are testimonials really speaking the truth?

Wanting Testimonials

As we talked on the phone, she was saying aloud the features she was seeing. “Okay, here is your seminar list. Oh and here are your blog posts. Okay and I see your speaking topics. Do you have any testimonials?”

Testimonials are valuable, certainly. They also have their own dedicated page on my site.

I wonder though, are written testimonials, the kind we see on a business web page real?

I don’t mean to suggest that anyone makes them up. Although, of course, someone could, what I question is how authentic these testimonials really feel to the reader or potential customer. Is this written word really speaking the truth?

Similar to references on a job application, would anyone knowingly list a reference that would say something bad, I don’t think so.

We live in a funny World. People cite in a negative sarcastic tone the perceived lack of authenticity related to online data, articles, and social media posts. There is a tremendous social atmosphere (movement?) which many people have labeled as, fake news.

Therefore, it may beg the question, “Why do people believe in testimonials?” How many businesses would display a comment that expresses disappointment with their product or service? Unless it is some paradoxical shift, I believe none. Zero, no one would do that.

Speaking the Truth

Testimonials may be one of the most intriguing inspirations for a call to action. They matter. Every marketer will tell you that. People believe in them. Psychologically, they move people to action. Are they fake news, maybe?

Perhaps the real truth exists in the number of clients or customers served, years in business, or when a friend of a friend provides a real spontaneous and unsolicited referral. I’m not saying that testimonials are fake news. They are probably real on most websites. What I am saying is what makes people so sure.

What did I tell the potential client? I directed her to my testimonials tab.

She was satisfied.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 13
    Nov 17
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Changing organizational culture

Truth About Your Changing Organizational Culture

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Times are changing. It seems every organization recognizes the business environment and climate are changing. Are you closely connected with some of the most fundamental aspects and ready to discover the truth about your changing organizational culture?

If everything in the business environment is shifting, the riskiest place to be is stuck in the status quo. When the environment is different, you can’t just do things differently. You will likely have to discover and learn, adapt, and do different things.

Discover Truth

Here are three important aspects to consider:

  • Facts. What is factual and true about your direction? What is the proof, or what can you prove through research or evidence?
  • Needed. What are the skills or expertise you will need for where you are headed? What will make the shifting direction successful? Consider what your team can learn or what should you outsource or hire?
  • Fears. Give honest self-reflection. What do you fear? What are you avoiding to face the truth? Consider what may be important but also out of your control.

Our U.S. economy has been shifting for decades. It has accelerated in this shift since 2009.

Do Different Things

Ask another question, what are you doing that is different, which is not the same as exploring what things you are doing differently.

This represents the truth in your path. Consider the culture, the habits, and the traditions.

Write it all down, put it on a flip chart or write on a white board.

When you step back and look at your situation more as an outside observer as compared to an inside navigator you may discover the real truth.

Changing Organizational Culture

Many believe their culture protects them and makes them strong. That is a truth, but a culture stuck in the status quo is actually falling behind.

That may be the hardest truth of all.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 02
    Mar 17
  • 3

Leadership Feedback: The Give and Get of Truth

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Most employees believe that their boss has little desire for feedback. Feedback is often viewed as one way, downstream. Do you believe leadership feedback is important?

Leadership feedback dennis e. gilbert

Formal feedback systems in most organizations, if they exist at all, are delivered through the once or twice a year employee performance evaluation. Throughout the year there might be little hints of complimentary job well done feedback, or expressions of the need for rework or improvement, but is this adequate?

Most feedback systems are designed to provide feedback from the boss to the direct report. What about the boss or leader? What is their feedback system?

Is more feedback or a better system required? Would it be smart?

Employee Feedback

Employees are often expecting feedback from the leader. Actually, many of them expect the criticism to drop on them at any moment.

Organizations with the best culture are trying to make an impact with less criticism, more constructive forms of feedback, and yes the highly desirable kudos.

Feedback should be intended to help people and systems improve. Sure it can, and should be motivational, inspirational, and delivered to spring people into action.

Unfortunately, it can also create fear, which might result in action, but that action is often short lived. In addition, the long-term effects of motivation through fear can be devastating for culture.

Leadership Feedback

All of this is important, but who is giving the leader honest feedback?

Do you agree that feedback might help with leadership? If you agree, you’ll probably also agree that the feedback must be honest.

Does the leader get honest feedback? When (if) the leader asks for feedback there is a tendency from others to give the feedback they believe is desired to be heard. Therefore a difference might exist between what is given and reality.

Feedback shouldn’t be a one-way system, and it should be truthful and honest.

The leader who is willing to receive as much truth as they give might be the smartest leader of all.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

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