At a conference this week I met the people from Glassdor Global Ltd (glassdoor.com). As Tripadvisor does for hotels, so Glassdoor does for companies, publicising ratings of the company, its senior staff and salary information that has been provided anonymously by employees – a sort of public 360 profile.
This is another example of how things cannot remain hidden any more. Some say this is one of the effects of an evolutionary wave sweeping through humanity right now, moving us towards unity, cooperation, sustainability and openness rather than fragmentation, competition, scarcity and secrecy.
From the financial to medical to political to educational worlds, the old social ‘certainties’ are being dissolved through the transparency of the internet and global media, which has been called the ‘tangible’ manifestation of the growth of humanity’s unified global consciousness. Whereas before only a few were able to experience “We are all one”, all of us can now begin to get a glimmer of what this means, at least on this level.
This is frightening for those organisations, societies and belief systems built upon fear, secrecy and the acquisition of power, and we can see the consequences of that fear around the globe, from the rise of fundamentalism to repressive reaction through legal systems and the misappropriation of mass media. And the speed of the changes underway can cause conflict and damage when processes and belief systems clash because fear and ignorance are at play.
It’s happening in the commercial world too. The people from Glassdoor talked of how some companies embrace their work and become a positive part of an ‘adult-to-adult’ dialogue. These progressive companies are riding the wave of change, contributing to it and learning and evolving as they ‘surf’. What’s the worst that could happen with transparency over attitudes and salary?
Other companies resist, unable to understand the benefits of open engagement with their people, shoring up their power structures with secrecy, hierarchy and strong ‘parent to child’ attitudes and behaviours. These are the ‘dinosaurs’.
But the genie is out of the bottle. This dissolution of fear-based barriers will continue. We can choose to fight it to the detriment of ourselves and others as the wave breaks over us, or we can accept and connect with this greater change, flow with it and allow it to take us to a new shore …
As with everything, “As above, so below” as the ancients said. Change begins with each of us. How we manage our own fears, our own courage is reflected in the greater spheres. So, some questions
- Personally, how open are you with your weaknesses – when they are pointed out by your partner or children, how defensive do you get?
- How comfortable would you be sharing your salary and 360profile with your team/company?
- How often, at work and at home, do you say “I’m not sure, what do you think?” and invite real input – or do you try to bluff your way through to maintain a fragile sense of control?
- What are you afraid of here?
Are you a surfer, or a dinosaur?
You can see me talk about one way to reduce your fears on this video: Handling Stress and Tension 1