The 'no snitching' syndrome

"Don't be a snitch", it was a phrase I became familiar with in my senior year in high school, it was quite straight forward and unfortunately many times it was followed. Quite simply, it was "I don't care what you know I did, you better not tell anyone of authority, or else..."

This mentality lead to quite an unproductive final year of high school, with fireworks being launched down our hallways, fires in the bathrooms, fights weekly, and unfortunately someone almost being killed with a box cutter. Yet, the phrase 'no snitching' kept rearing its head and the violence continued. At the time, I just assumed it was the gangs in our city and that after high school, I would never hear that phrase again. I was wrong...

Fast forward 12 years, I accept my first Executive Directors position, the contact center for a brand new casino is all mine to build and staff. As team members join we naturally try to build an amazing culture, one of respect, trust, honesty and confidence in one another. Integrity is a huge part of building an amazing team. Our training class was going into its second week when I heard it again, this time even more dramatic "Snitches get stitches". I was informed by one of my managers that two of the team members had a verbal argument and one of them left a drawing with this phrase scrawled across it on the other team member's desk. I could almost feel the flashback to highschool happening, I knew I needed to gain quick control over the concern between the two team members as well as establish that just because something happened, doesn't also mean that it can't be professionally resolved without repercussions. Luckily, we were able to move past this incident and successfully launch and run the contact center. Eventually, both team members moved on as they didn't like the atmosphere of the office, as we refused to play into their drama.

It's been almost a decade since that incident happened, and perhaps it's just the region in which we live, but it's not the last time I have heard that phrase. It's a phrase and an idea that originated on the streets due to the perceived poor treatment by the police towards the minority and poor communities. I found an enlightening article on it on City News from over 10 years ago in case you want to learn more about how the cultural phenomenon started.

I felt compelled to write about it today because the other day the phrase hit really close to home. Our son came home from work and was telling my wife and I about his day. He shared that he was assigned to be a 'breaker', relieving other security guards from their post for their 15-minute or 30-minute break. He shared that one of the guards was gone for nearly two hours and it was later found that he was sleeping in the employee cafeteria. When we asked him why he didn't say anything, he said it... "I ain't no snitch". I was instantly angered that this mentality had made it to him. I was not angry at him, I understood his heart was in a place of not wanting to get the other guard in any trouble. However, my leadership instinct was to coach the mentality out of him.

My first thoughts went to, what if the guy was gone for two hours because he was sick? What if something happened to him? What if the people who didn't get breaks because my son was stuck at this guy's post had an emergency? We talked to him about the idea that informing his manager that something could be wrong doesn't need to be looked at as 'snitching' but instead is important to making sure everything is running as it should and showing the managers that he's going to take responsibility for the business, not just his own actions. I am hopeful when presented an opportunity to step up and be a leader in the future, that he understands the impact of not informing his superiors of a potential problem can have wide-reaching ramifications beyond just him "snitching".

As leaders, we are responsible for instilling a sense of trust and respect amongst our team members so that they can come to us with anything. If we hire well, we get team members who have only positive work ethics and leadership mentalities instilled in them. However, we cannot discount the influence that society can have on even the best performers. When situations come up and you find out that someone is withholding information, be it for fear of retaliation, fear of being perceived as a problem employee, or simply because they don't feel it is necessary, it is crucial to communicate the effects their decision can have for them and all others involved. Often times the thought process used was one of self-preservation, which is a basic human instinct. Through open lines of communication and transparency, any mentality can be changed but it's an uphill battle. The important part of a leader is to manage your response appropriately and not cause friction across your team members. Confidentiality is essential in achieving this, and I'll discuss maintaining confidentiality in the workplace in a future article.

Until next time, be great today and then be better tomorrow!