A few years ago, my firm was asked to deliver 5,000 licenses of our micro-learning product. Hours after the email that the project was a go, I randomly read an article revealing that the company provided ICE detention facilities. In this episode, I talk about the sentence that makes a compromise feel okay, and the two questions I'd ask the next time you catch yourself saying it.
A few years ago, my firm was asked to deliver 5,000 licenses of our micro-learning product. Hours after the email that the project was a go, I randomly read an article revealing that the company provided ICE detention facilities. I declined, and that triggered the scarcity mindset I inherited from my parents. In this episode, I talk about the sentence that makes a compromise feel okay, and the two questions I'd ask the next time you catch yourself saying it.
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I turned down 5,000 licenses, and then my scarcity mindset got in the way.
Hey, folks. I'm Bernadette Smith. I'm CEO of Equality Institute. Welcome back to Good Vibes Leadership. I am your guide to playful, inclusive leadership. Let's get into it.
A few years ago, my company was hired to deliver 5,000 licenses of our microlearning product. This was back in 2018, 2019. So, 5,000 licenses. It's a big deal. We got the email that the project was a go, and it was an exciting email to get because this product was already built. We didn't have to customize anything. We didn't have to build anything from the ground up. We just had to deploy these licenses. It was a great chunk of change. Right? So it was pretty exciting.
So then a few hours later, I was reading the news on my phone like I do at the end of the day, and I read an article about detention facilities rapidly being built by ICE, which is Immigration and Customs Enforcement here in the US. So the article was about these ICE detention facilities and how horrible they are and how rapidly they are being built, and it mentioned the names of the largest providers and builders of these facilities. And that name was the name of my new client. The client, the company that had hired me earlier that day to deliver these 5,000 elearning licenses.
So I had to sit with that. I had some really good news earlier in the day, and then I read what the company was really up to, which is certainly beyond what I had learned before.
Alright. So, you know, I'm the child of immigrants. My parents came here from Ireland in search of a better life. And that company's work went directly against my values. And my true belief, naive as it may be or seem, I still believe in the American dream. I still believe in what's possible here. And I still believe that America has an awful lot to offer and that we need the diversity of immigrants. So that is all a big part of my values. And so that company's work went directly against my values.
And I'll be honest. It is very easy to justify just cashing this check. Just saying, hey, you know, take the money. That microlearning, it was on inclusion. I could have very easily said to myself, oh, you know, this is a bad company going trying to do something good. Right? I definitely had that conversation with myself. I could have just cashed the check. And, I guess it may seem irresponsible not to. But I ended up declining the project because it went against my values. And that is essentially what I said in the email, was that the work they did as a company went against my values.
I sent that email and then I started spiraling. My scarcity mindset, that my parents had when they came here, and that scarcity mindset showed up. I was afraid that, you know, I had just turned down many thousands of dollars, which could have lasted my company months, which would have paid me, you know, as a new business owner, a small business. You know, that type of investment is significant. It's good for the ego too. It's good all around. Anyway, I still said no.
So it definitely came with some immediate regrets. But, you know, in hindsight, I know that I lived my values. I've been doing this inclusion work for a very long time, more than twenty years. You know, I talk about the importance of everyone sharing their values and everyone sharing their why for this work and their story for this work. That's part of my message as I do my keynotes and my workshops. And then sometimes those values are questioned. And in real life, it's a different conversation than what can happen in theory in the workshops. How do you respond when your values are questioned? It's certainly a lot easier to tell someone how to respond than to actually know it innately.
And, you know, and if you lead people, you know what this is like. You've had your own version of this. Now maybe you're not turning down 5,000 licenses that would directly impact your bottom line and impact your pocket, but maybe it's a relationship or a partnership with another vendor or a sponsor for an event or a client who pays well but is very, very challenging and disparaging to work with or does things that you're not proud of. You know, there's a lot of ways that our values can be challenged at work. So I'm sure you've had your own version of that sentence like, well, you know, at least they pay on time or, technically, I'm not working directly with them or it's not really our department. It's very easy to justify continuing and saying nothing when work goes against our values. The reason we do that is rooted essentially in fear. Fear of the consequence. The consequence of what can happen when we do speak up.
So if you catch yourself saying, oh, you know, technically, it's not a big deal or at least they don't do that or, you know, it's not really our department. If you catch yourself saying something like that or in a situation in which your values are questioned, ask yourself, you know, what is this justification actually getting me out of? What is it saving me from? Is it saving you from embarrassment? Is it saving you from a difficult conversation? Is it saving you from scarcity? Is it saving you from what? What is it saving you from? What is the justification saving you from?
For me, the reason it was hard to justify was because I needed the money. It was really hard to turn down that money. So those justification voices, oh, you know, it's a training on inclusion. Maybe we can help them be more inclusive. Those justification voices were really, really loud. So think about what your justification voice is getting you out of.
And then another question is, what would you tell someone if they were in this situation where their values are being questioned? What would you tell someone? I figured out the answer. For me, it's about living my values. It's about talking about my values. But look for the ways in which they are challenged in your work, in which your values could be compromised. In what way and why are you justifying that? And maybe even write down one or two things you would never do for the money or ways in which your values would never be compromised for the money. You know, for me, all I know is that I'll never regret living my values. For me, it's always worth it. When was the last time your values cost you something? And was it worth it?
Alright. Let's move into this week's Good Vibes to Go. Check out the late Gloria Steinem's Famous Last Words on Netflix. She left us a few weeks ago. But before she left, she shared some beautiful words. So check it out.
Alright, folks. And if you want some more good stories, some more good vibes like this every Saturday morning, that's what the 5 Things newsletter is for. This week, I have stories about dyed hair and hijabs at convenience stores, Canada retiring an outdated rule, and more. You can subscribe at 5ThingsDEI.com.
Alright, folks. That's it. I'm Bernadette Smith, and I'm cheering you on. Have a great week.