Telling truth to power

[IcemanSK]

One of my favorite West Wing moments is when they brought in the character of Will in the White House. Before he could be fully in, they put in a position where he had to tell the President a difficult truth...to see if he had difficulty telling truth to power. I recently had that same situation w/ my instructor.

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to "tell truth to power?" An instructor, Master, GM? How did you handle it? How did they take it?

 

[Kacey]

I have occasionally had problems telling a senior something negative about another senior, in regard to something that occurred in a class setting. It used to make me nervous, but I've never had a bad reaction from any of the seniors I've spoken to, and generally found out that others had had the same concern and weren't willing to speak up. Because of the reactions I've gotten, I've become less concerned about bringing up such issues. Depending on the reaction of the senior, however, I could see where it could be a problem for some people.

 

[TigerWoman]

I was in the position of telling the truth as I saw it. The master had another truth as he saw it, he didn't want to hear my truth. Then there is the truth of another person, who wanted to believe their truth. All three truths were different. What was true, we probably don't know for sure without getting all three people in the same room. What I'm saying is truth is perception and is subjective sometimes to your motives. If there is no personal interest, or could be embarrassing and actually hurt them in telling, then the truth is plausible and can be accepted more readily. But then their truth could still be perceived as having personal interest, when in truth they did not. So what is truth?

Dictionary meanings--
1) Truth, which is true or in accordance to fact or reality.
2) a fact or belief that is accepted as true

Telling the truth to power is only difficult if in the telling if one has something to possibly lose-- ie. job, rank, ego. Then, if someone else tells the truth as they see it before your truth is heard, then the chance to tell it may be lost or worthless to tell. Still it is subjective to the judgement of the "power" what is "true" and whether the power has integrity too.

Telling the truth is important in saving grief to others as in blame or if it affects their job or their rank, then integrity is on the line too. And the truth has to be in accordance with fact or reality as much as possible, and something in which you can live with.

I guess that is why I have the line about truth on my sig. Seek the truth but don't always believe your truth is the only one. TW

 

[IcemanSK]

I was in the position of telling the truth as I saw it. The master had another truth as he saw it, he didn't want to hear my truth. Then there is the truth of another person, who wanted to believe their truth. All three truths were different. What was true, we probably don't know for sure without getting all three people in the same room. What I'm saying is truth is perception and is subjective sometimes to your motives. If there is no personal interest, or could be embarrassing and actually hurt them in telling, then the truth is plausible and can be accepted more readily. But then their truth could still be perceived as having personal interest, when in truth they did not. So what is truth?

Dictionary meanings--
1) Truth, which is true or in accordance to fact or reality.
2) a fact or belief that is accepted as true

Telling the truth to power is only difficult if in the telling if one has something to possibly lose-- ie. job, rank, ego. Then, if someone else tells the truth as they see it before your truth is heard, then the chance to tell it may be lost or worthless to tell. Still it is subjective to the judgement of the "power" what is "true" and whether the power has integrity too.

Telling the truth is important in saving grief to others as in blame or if it affects their job or their rank, then integrity is on the line too. And the truth has to be in accordance with fact or reality as much as possible, and something in which you can live with.

I guess that is why I have the line about truth on my sig. Seek the truth but don't always believe your truth is the only one. TW

I was hoping to avoid the philosophical definition of truth in this discussion. TW, I appreciate the position that you find yourself in when you "speak truth to power." And I can see that your point goes to the heart of what I'm talking about. That is, "how does the 'power' react to your truth?" Your other point about the "power's integrity" is a big issue, also.

In my situation, I watched a video done by my GM. In it, he states (what semed to me) a wrong "vital striking point." He even went into detail about it. On another video, his junior points out what I saw as the correct "VST." I wrote him & email enquiring about it. I don't know him well enough to know how he'd react. He admitted he was wrong on the tape & that his junior was correct. It helps me trust, not only his character, but our relationship as well.

 

[shesulsa]

There have been times when I was asked for the truth and I didn't know if it was a test of my sisterhood to that person, loyalty to art or ability to tell the truth to power. I found a way to communicate that to my teacher who after a while indulged me to tell him the truth no matter what. I think I know better now when to hold my tongue - of course who's perfect at that, though?? and when to speak freely.

 

[TigerWoman]

...He admitted he was wrong on the tape & that his junior was correct. It helps me trust, not only his character, but our relationship as well.

Humility goes a long ways. My instructor admitted he was wrong, but I felt he did it under duress from other students. And there was no humility either. Makes a big difference and still does in our relationship as I don't trust especially when the wrongs continue. TW