{"id":29708,"date":"2022-11-30T06:35:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T14:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29708"},"modified":"2022-11-30T06:35:14","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T14:35:14","slug":"the-emperors-new-clothes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-emperors-new-clothes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Emperor\u2019s New Clothes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers in 2020 was just the tip of the iceberg. In the first eight months of 2020, Police in the U.S. killed 164 Black people.<\/span>\u00a0[1]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Moreover, Black and Brown Americans have been saying for decades that the police are prejudiced and inequitable towards persons of color. But something about the visceral footage of George Floyd crying out with his dying breath, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe,\u201d ignited a nationwide series of protests, culminating in social, political, and religious dialogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSpeaking truth to power\u201d is a phrase credited to Bayard Rustin, a Black Quaker and Civil Rights Leader, during the 1940s, and printed under the same title in a pamphlet on the quaker search for an alternative to violence.<\/span>\u00a0[2]<\/span><\/a> The phrase gets to the heart of the struggle for a more just and equitable reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his article, \u201cSpeaking Truth to Power: A White Paper,\u201d Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California\u2019s Marshall School of Business and founding director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership, James O\u2019Toole, makes a case for why the concept is difficult within many organizational cultures, especially when authoritative leadership is at work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps the only thing riskier than telling the boss he is wrong is to have to admit one’s own mistakes. Speaking truth to power is a threatening exercise when it entails owning up to serious error. Indeed, fear of punishment by tyrannical leaders causes many managers to become risk averse,\u201d urged O\u2019Toole.<\/span>\u00a0[3]<\/span><\/a> His observation was that until recently, to challenge power was to challenge the absolute power of a king, emperor, or ruler. There is something more going on there. To question authority conjures up our body\u2019s automatic physiological reaction of fight, flight, or freeze. Our natural system has a physiological response to bullies by building inflammation within our bodies and brains.<\/span>\u00a0[4]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of Has Christian Andersen\u2019s 1837 classic,\u00a0<\/span>The Emperor\u2019s New Clothes<\/span><\/em>. Do you remember the story? Traveling seamsters swindle an arrogant ruler with the idea of clothes that would make him invisible. They were such effective scoundrels that the emperor, in his pride, believed them, even though he could not see the clothes himself. So the ruler prances through the streets butt naked to the shock and surprise of his subjects. Naturally, no one dared to tell him the truth except a little boy.<\/span><\/p>\n

As organizational leaders, this might be an excellent place to pause to contemplate our capacity to be open to alternative points of view, even if it challenges our worldview, sense of security, and authority.<\/span><\/p>\n

But some organizations, whether in the business, government, or religious sector, are not always ruled by an autocratic close-minded leader. Sometimes, an organization can insulate itself from alternative ideas and future trends, especially in the face of its current success.<\/span><\/p>\n

As O\u2019Toole noted, \u201cAll organizations-nations, colleges, businesses, and families–hold on to such fundamental and unexamined myths. While such shared values and assumptions are necessary to hold a group together, if the glue that binds them is, in fact, toxic, it can result in organizational morbidity.\u201d<\/span>[5]<\/span><\/a> He gives the example of Motorola, a once dominant force in the technology market that failed to see the potential of touchscreen innovation, leading to its rapid decline.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is not as easy as it sounds to transform an organization\u2019s culture from closemindedness and even fear of speaking truth to power, whatever form that power takes, whether the top leadership or the culture. The path to a culture of positive change through candor, openness, and introspection often begins with the messenger.<\/span><\/p>\n

I wrestled with O\u2019Toole\u2019s \u201cResponsibilities of the Messenger, especially number four, it must be the product of moral reflection, and number five, the messenger must be willing to pay the price.<\/span>\u00a0[6]<\/span><\/a> While serving as a pastor during the racial and political unrest of 2020-2021, I tried to address what was happening in our communities through the lens of the Gospel. I thoughtfully and prayerfully attempted to preach pastoral messages rather than hardened prophetic ones. However, after preaching on the church\u2019s role in the face of systemic racism the Sunday after George Floyd\u2019s murder, along with why we are called to follow Jesus, not political demagogues, after the January 6th insurrection, I had some pretty hard conversations with church members who accused me of \u201cpreaching a radical, flaming, liberal agenda.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As leaders, we should be challenged by O\u2019Toole\u2019s charge that the organizational culture of transparency, no secrets, and empowering employees to speak the truth should begin at the top. He argues that \u201cthe boss\u201d should adopt the roles of teacher and listener, trusting that members of the organization will act responsibly.<\/span>\u00a0[7]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Leaders who don\u2019t just might find themselves wandering the halls of the office, naked and exposed, without even knowing it.<\/span><\/p>\n

[1]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Cohen, Li, \u201cPolice in the U.S. killed 164 Black people in the first 8 months of 2020. These are their names. (Part I: January-April),\u201d\u00a0<\/span>CBS News<\/span><\/em>, Last modified September 10, 2020, https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/pictures\/black-people-killed-by-police-in-the-u-s-in-2020\/.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] American Friends Service Committee,\u00a0<\/span>Speaking Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence<\/span><\/em>, (: Literary Licensing, 1955).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] O\u2019Toole, James, \u201cSpeaking Truth to Power: A White Paper,\u201d Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Last modified October 15, 2015, https:\/\/www.scu.edu\/ethics\/focus-areas\/business-ethics\/resources\/speaking-truth-to-power-a-white-paper\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Fraser, Jennifer, \u201cBullying Can Cause Inflammation in the Body and Brain,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Psychology Today<\/span><\/em>, Last modified September 16, 2022, https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/the-bullied-brain\/202209\/bullying-can-cause-inflammation-in-the-body-and-brain.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] O\u2019Toole,\u00a0<\/span>Speaking Truth to Power<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Ibid, O\u2019Toole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Ibid, O\u2019Toole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers in 2020 was just the tip of the iceberg. In the first eight months of 2020, Police in the U.S. killed 164 Black people.\u00a0[1]\u00a0Moreover, Black and Brown Americans have been saying for decades that the police are prejudiced and inequitable towards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2470,2469,2459],"class_list":["post-29708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-emperors-new-clothes","tag-james-otoole","tag-speaking-truth-to-power","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29709,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29708\/revisions\/29709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}