In his book Success Principles, Jack Canfield described
an exercise he uses at many of his seminars where he invites people to stand up
and share a secret they have been hiding – perhaps for years. Many people open
up and talk about deep, painful issues.
In the days to follow some
amazing results happen – migraines disappear, spastic colons relax, medication
is no longer needed. People actually feel more alive.
“It takes a lot of energy to
hold back our truth and that energy, when it is released, can be used to focus
on creating greater success in all areas of our lives,” said Canfield, who is
the author of the Chicken Soup for the
Soul book series. We can become less cautious and more spontaneous, more
willing to be our natural selves.”
“I don’t want any yes men around me. I want everybody to
tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.” Samuel Goldwyn,
cofounder of Metro-Goldwin Mayer Studios
But how about when the boss
or potential client is doing something wrong? Should you say nothing, or speak
the truth? Canfield gives an example of
Marilyn Tam who was overseeing 320 stores for Miller’s Outpost in 1986. She had
an interview with Phil Knight of Nike. He wasn’t happy about how the Nike
apparel was being displayed in various stores. He was thinking about opening
stores that would display exclusively Nike branded apparel and shoes.
Tam was excited about the
opportunity then did her research. What
she found dismayed her. The Nike apparel was just stock clothing with the
swoosh slapped on. There was no
consistency in color, standards or quality.
When she met with Knight she
was excited about the vision he presented.
But if he told her what she thought, the interview might be over and he
would just hire someone else. She decided to take the plunge and tell him that
she thought the stores would fail because the poor quality products would not
represent what Nike stood for.
Not surprisingly, Knight quickly ended the interview and left. Tam was
afraid she had blown a big opportunity. But she felt good about having told the
truth.
Two weeks later Knight
called back. He had done his own research and agreed with Tam’s assessment of
the quality. “Come fix the goods, then
we’ll open the stores.”
The decision to wait held up
the opening of the stores for two years, but once opened, the apparel division
had huge growth and continued to expand the Nike brand in a positive way.
