Moral Injury – A Thomas Merton insight
Delroy Hall
Committed to, and working with others, by serving humanity through counselling, providing mental health care and leadership development. I work with individuals and organisations.
"Too loud, too sweeping, too preachy. When I criticise a system, they think I criticise them-and that is of course because they fully accept the system and identify themselves with it." Thomas Merton.
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Introduction
“You must protect the badge.” “You must protect the organisation.” “You must protect the institution.” How many times have I heard that? How many times have you?
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Such phrases can lead to morally injurious behaviour. I have heard those phrases too often as people share their stories of mistreatment and injustice at work, constructive dismissal or being unceremoniously removed from their workplaces.
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Their sin? Speaking up with concerns around unethical behaviour or practices happening within the organisation where the leadership or management finds their comments too uncomfortable to hear and thus it is dismissed, along with them.
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Who is Thomas Merton?
For those who do now know, Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk. A formidable person in terms of his writings and his piercing reflections on life. Given his lifelong commitment to learning and deep spirituality, it was said of him, “For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.” Click the link if you want to know more about him.
The danger of asking questions or raising issues in an insecure environment
As we continue our reflection on moral injury in the workplace you may have encountered where asking questions, even if they are for clarity, can evoke strong negative reactions in those who have been consumed by the identity of the organisation.
?I am sure there are many areas where this takes place but one where I have acutely observed this is within the field of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, EDI. In some instances, a human rights disaster rattling various parts of the British landscape.??
?I can only write what I have observed, namely, the levels of stress and trauma experienced by people of colour working in EDI, or in other parts of the world, DEI.
EDI is one of the areas where I conduct or facilitate training and I am aware it is poles apart from those of you who are involved in it daily. To date, I have only met one white person who, involved in EDI is asking questions of equality and justice and who is receiving pressure, and in some cases, aggressive verbal attacks from their white peers.??
?When you raise questions for clarity, or even to point things out, you have stepped on a slippery slope which escalates, and you quickly find yourself at the point of no return.
The danger of deaf ears
Over the past two to three months, we have travelled on this unfolding path of MI. One of the things you encounter when you start speaking truth, and dare I say, even within organsations having whistle blowing policies, are deaf ears. What goes unheard is the quest for transparency, honesty and a more just working environment, but what is often heard is a personal attack. Consider this thought by Friedrich Nietzsche. ‘Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they do not want their illusions destroyed.’ Illusions of the ‘badge’, ‘organisation’ or ‘institution.’ (Shared by #MartinDearlove).
The signs and symptoms of weak leadership
The biggest issue for me is this. “When I criticise a system, they think I criticise them-and that is of course because they fully accept the system and identity themselves with it."
?When you point something out and there is a backlash, it is, to my way of thinking, a sign and symptom of weak leadership. Come on, be honest with yourself. You have known the quality of the leadership in your organisation is poor and all you are doing is exposing their weakness in policies and procedures, but your comments are taken personally.
Workplace betrayal…not always your fault
Last year, due to a request of a viewer on my broadcasts, I explored the topic of betrayal. One of the sessions we looked at was betrayal in the workplace. Often, betrayal in the workplace happens, not because you have done anything wrong, but you were doing what you should be doing according to your job description. By diligently working you are exposing the inadequacies and indolence of your work colleagues. Exposing the gaps and flaws heightens insecurity. This is unwelcome and is often followed by an aggressive backlash.
How to handle weak leadership
Pointing out unethical or unprofessional behaviour or practices is tantamount to lighting the blue touch paper on fireworks. The safety instructions on lighting fireworks goes something like this. ‘Light them at arm’s length, using a taper. Stand well back.’
Good leadership hears your concerns and do something about it. If things are nipped in the bud, or addressed immediately, adverse situations can be avoided, or at least limited.
When I started my role in leadership things happened, and I would hide it from people or not do anything about it. I did not need to experience the downside of my avoidance too often before I learnt, deal with it now and it will not bother you in the future.
Maybe like you, I marvel at organisations, who, in the public domain, are caught out with unethical practices. You hear things like, ‘this is unacceptable, and ‘things need to change.’ Yet, annually, these same organisations spend thousands of pounds or dollars in out of court settlements or get victims to sign NDAs. This is despicable. What happens is the person/perceived problem, is erased but the organisation seldom looks at itself, its behaviour or its identity, to ensure such an indictment never happens again. Many organisations like many adults do not learn too well.
Truth telling survival kit: The Basics
To speak up within an insecure organisation takes courage, but the values you live by leads you to speak up. What can you do to protect yourself? You may have ways already to protect yourself but here are few things I have found helpful if your need to speak up?
A huge thank you to #JoannaMerrell for sharing the Thomas Merton quote.
Delroy Hall
With over three decades of experience as a psychotherapist and organisational leadership, training, facilitation, keynotes talks and leadership development, I can work with individuals or organisations.
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