Colonel Candid

Trust is essential in many aspects of life. A century ago, a person’s trust relied on their handshake and their given work. Today more often, legal documents, sent via certified mail, ensure a written trail goes along with the establishment of an agreed upon action. For successful relationships and business interactions, trust remains one of the top requirements. Unfortunately, as you make your way through the ranks, you may experience a break in trust with your co-workers, leaders, and the organization. Let’s learn the importance of indicators of when you’re about to do a trust fall and no one is there to catch you. As an individual, you can recognize when you’re being ghosted, ignored, belittled or minimized. All these examples demonstrate a lack of trust with the person you’re dealing with. This happened to me in the past when I’d requested to meet with a supervisor to discuss my future employment opportunities. A gate keeper to the decision maker kept taking my call, even m...

Please, give me permission to speak up. During a roundtable meeting, I’m pushed to the back row. You’re covering a topic adjacent to an area that I’ve spent my entire career studying. Unfortunately, I was given instructions to sit here and take notes. If I could speak up, I’d give you ample feedback on why this program may not work or give you an alternative viewpoint. I see people constantly editing their thoughts here. It makes it incredibly difficult to tiptoe around the landmines of issues in the organization. I wish I could ask you questions because I think we could expand on your goal. The extra five minutes on the topic could have shown you, the decision maker, what a gift this cost saving option really is and why just investing one more attempt at it would pay off. If we could all contribution to the discussion and downplay the loud squeakiest wheel in the room, you’d see unrecognized potential. We want to add value. The jokes from attendees about the need for youn...