Are You Fighting for Good or Fighting for Evil?
My very first job out of college was working for an advertising agency in Austin. My client was Chili’s Bar and Grill.
Sometimes, I would wonder what this meant in terms of my early contributions to society. After all, my blood, sweat, and tears were just contributing to making America overweight and unhealthy.
My second job was at a different advertising agency in New York City. My client was Crest and Oral-B. Sometimes, I would wonder what this meant in terms of my still-junior contributions to the greater good. At least it was Pro-Health.
That was an oral care pun, for anyone telling me to get a niche.
From there, I moved to a digital ad tech company where I oversaw a team managing several clients. Which was great! Because I was there to make the people I worked with better, to make sure my team had a solid manager so they could grow effectively in their careers.
So they could fight the good fight!
But…what exactly is the good fight? Because it’s definitely not investing in America’s pre-Ozempic obesity crisis.
And alas, we tell ourselves the stories we need to hear to put on our big girl pants and go to work every day.
I solved my own ethical dilemma back in 2015 when I unintentionally moved into the People space. I started out doing projects to address key issues that were holding my company back, and after three short years I ended up on a new team (People & Culture) and earned a new title (People & Culture Business Partner).
Before I held the title, I had never heard of the job.
This was both ten years ago and also ten years into my career. I felt I had earned the privilege of making decent money while – gasp – actually helping people, like I had done when I was a people manager. But at scale!
My job was to invest in the company’s employees so the employees could invest themselves into the company, and we would all thrive.
Right?
Wrong.
I’ve waxed poetic on the trap of working in HR.
The HR Integrity Trap: Coldplay Cringe
About how we lost the word “Human” when we collectively rebranded HR as “People and Culture,” but continued to treat humans solely as “Resources.”
Corporate Shapeshifter
But here I am, continuing to pontificate. Because, as I pick at the threads left behind from my corporate experiences, I realize the “trauma” goes deeper than simply working for unethical leaders who see each human as a pawn they can manipulate and blame in the age-old quest for money and power.
And yes of course, PART of it is working for unethical leaders who see each human as a pawn they can manipulate and blame in the age-old quest for money and power. I’m sorry. That’s a tale as old as time and not something that we can blame on AI or the changing workforce.
But guess what is also a tale as old as time. The little guy, the power we have in small pockets, the resolve to chip away and modernize this tale – slowly and directly.
And perhaps we can sew those pockets together and make a quilt.
But the first step, as always, is acceptance. Of the parts we play, of where we can do better.
With that said, I hate to ask you this question. I do.
But here goes:
Do you know if you are fighting for good, or fighting for evil?
I’m not asking with an intent to judge or force binary labels. Trust me, I could (and probably will) write a whole essay about the battle for good and evil that wages inside us all. This isn’t that essay.
But I ask anyway, because I care.
I ask, because I want to protect you from what happened to me. From foolishly fighting for evil while convincing myself I was fighting for good.
Because as a People & Culture Business Partner, I was rarely actually “investing in the company’s employees so the employees could invest themselves into the company.”
No.
Instead, as time went on and executive leadership turned over, I realized I was operating from a place of fear. Of feeling the need to toe the line.
Of trading my values and morals for a bi-weekly paycheck, an anxiety disorder, and a disconnection from who I am at my core.
No, but that bi-weekly paycheck was really nice though!
And friend, I love you, but I fear you might be doing the same.
Still unsure? Here’s a few more questions to consider:
Are you managing a team based on expectations from your own leadership that you don’t understand?
Are you consistently the messenger of someone else’s bad news?
Are you asked to maintain a level of “transparency” that feels oddly opaque?
Are you promised a raise or a promotion in the future based on “doing more with less”?
Are you a senior leader or a corporate lawyer who’s expressed personal opinions about unethical leadership behind their backs, but participates in meetings or even mediations, spinning stories just left of the truth because your job is to “protect the company”?
Because I’ve seen stock prices. I don’t think it’s working.
Thank you, but I’m out. I’m tired of creating ragged webs to protect people who wield their leadership as a way to demonstrate their superiority. But the real superiority?
Caring about integrity. Showing up authentically.
Succinctly said: if you have to show up differently in different rooms, it’s worth asking yourself if you are comfortable with your degree of “good.”
And if you are ever looking to make a change, I’d love to invite you to sew your quilt to mine so we can hover together, so our body heat can keep us warm.
Operate with authenticity. Prioritize integrity. Be transparent, be you, tell your story from a place of connection, not a place of fear. I wonder what you will discover if you try.
And yes of course, PART of it is working for unethical leaders who see each human as a pawn they can manipulate and blame in the age-old quest for money and power.
But a pawn who stays on the board long enough gains power through strategy and collaboration. And the more they work together, the greater their influence on the outcome.
So settle in – I’ll bring the popcorn. We can lounge beneath our blanket and watch the Queen and her sad, complacent King look surprised when they have nothing to protect them from the cold.
