Painful Confessions - Step Five
The Twelve Steps - Step Five
Original Wording (A.A.): Admitted to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Corporate Wording: We will make a public and corporate confession of the injustices, oppressions, abuses, cruelties, mistakes and cover ups that have plagued the RCMP ( or any other institution of power ) since its inception.
Commentary:
In the fall of 1999 I was deeply affected by a telephone conversation I had with a member of the RCMP who was off work on a medical leave. I had just been promoted to Staff Sergeant in charge of administration for the province of Alberta, a significant stretch from my previous roles in organized crime, undercover, homicide work, and anti-terrorism.
This member asked me, point blank, what I had against him. " Nothing at all," I stammered, " in fact I'm pretty sure I don't know you." He then read a harsh statement which was attached to a notice of intent to medically discharge him. This statement, in its impersonal legalese, sounded mean spirited and officious. It had my signature on it.
While it was highly tempting to justify and pacify, I had to admit my agreement with him. " No I don't have anything against you at all, in fact as I read your case it seems to me that you are being treated unjustly by the force."
I was ashamed that I had signed such a document. It was wrong and I knew it. "But what could I possibly do about it ?" I justified to myself, " decisions were made at a higher level than me."
This member had broken his ankle while breaking up a violent domestic dispute and due to manpower shortages did not have any back up. His ankle did not heal and, in my view, a callous and cold hearted decision was made to discharge him... and I was part of the process.
It was wrong then and it is wrong today. I sadly reflect that this is only one story among thousands, of police officers left hung out to dry by the institution that they once served with commitment and dignity.
My role as an administrator opened my eyes to the pettiness and contempt that can grow internally between those whose position it is to administrate the functioning of the institution and those who are on the front lines. Meetings among senior managers were, at times, marked by sarcastic scoffing, rolling of eyes, and subtle character assasinations when it came to police officers who had made mistakes or were unwilling to role over and accept internal injustices.
Harassment investigations were often discussed with contempt and cynicism by those whose role it was to ensure that it ceased.
It made me sad and angry, not only with what was going on, but with how quickly I was influenced and sucked in to a similar mindset, and how difficult it was to resist. Negativity fuels negativity. Contempt and sarcasm fuels other contempts and sarcasms. Unfortunately, as history would testify, the leaders of corporations, countries and institutions, otherwise intelligent men and women, are not immune to the lure of the negative spiral into petty judgment, sarcastic scoffing, and contempt of others.
What is frightening is that decisions are often made from the paradigm of these contempts, and then vigorously defended in a face saving exercise that can sometimes last for years and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
The emotional maturation of an institution, such as the RCMP, is reliant upon the ability to admit wrongdoing and mistakes. Experts recognize that growth can only come when the fearless moral inventory is progressed through to a public declaration of faults and errors.
The RCMP is faced with a paradoxical dilemma on this fifth step. To admit errors and mistakes, sometimes those that have had catastrophic results, is to "undermine the public confidence in the force." Yet to hide and cover up our mistakes, in order to save face, has the exact opposite effect of its intended purpose.
The oppression and cruelty that has been shown towards many members of the RCMP by its leaders is, tragically, a reflection of the larger picture of what has, at times, taken place with members of the public.
The Higher Power spoken of in the A.A. wording cannot translate into Parliament, Political Parties, or Prime Ministers. The admission to the Higher Power is that which is the objective standard of right and wrong, truth and deceit. The admission to others is the RCMP membership, the public, and a thoughtful and soulful admission to self at the highest levels of leadership.
Like the individual, these corporate confessions are painful. However, it is only through this pain that healing, restoration and reformation, will come.
Original Wording (A.A.): Admitted to our Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Corporate Wording: We will make a public and corporate confession of the injustices, oppressions, abuses, cruelties, mistakes and cover ups that have plagued the RCMP ( or any other institution of power ) since its inception.
Commentary:
In the fall of 1999 I was deeply affected by a telephone conversation I had with a member of the RCMP who was off work on a medical leave. I had just been promoted to Staff Sergeant in charge of administration for the province of Alberta, a significant stretch from my previous roles in organized crime, undercover, homicide work, and anti-terrorism.
This member asked me, point blank, what I had against him. " Nothing at all," I stammered, " in fact I'm pretty sure I don't know you." He then read a harsh statement which was attached to a notice of intent to medically discharge him. This statement, in its impersonal legalese, sounded mean spirited and officious. It had my signature on it.
While it was highly tempting to justify and pacify, I had to admit my agreement with him. " No I don't have anything against you at all, in fact as I read your case it seems to me that you are being treated unjustly by the force."
I was ashamed that I had signed such a document. It was wrong and I knew it. "But what could I possibly do about it ?" I justified to myself, " decisions were made at a higher level than me."
This member had broken his ankle while breaking up a violent domestic dispute and due to manpower shortages did not have any back up. His ankle did not heal and, in my view, a callous and cold hearted decision was made to discharge him... and I was part of the process.
It was wrong then and it is wrong today. I sadly reflect that this is only one story among thousands, of police officers left hung out to dry by the institution that they once served with commitment and dignity.
My role as an administrator opened my eyes to the pettiness and contempt that can grow internally between those whose position it is to administrate the functioning of the institution and those who are on the front lines. Meetings among senior managers were, at times, marked by sarcastic scoffing, rolling of eyes, and subtle character assasinations when it came to police officers who had made mistakes or were unwilling to role over and accept internal injustices.
Harassment investigations were often discussed with contempt and cynicism by those whose role it was to ensure that it ceased.
It made me sad and angry, not only with what was going on, but with how quickly I was influenced and sucked in to a similar mindset, and how difficult it was to resist. Negativity fuels negativity. Contempt and sarcasm fuels other contempts and sarcasms. Unfortunately, as history would testify, the leaders of corporations, countries and institutions, otherwise intelligent men and women, are not immune to the lure of the negative spiral into petty judgment, sarcastic scoffing, and contempt of others.
What is frightening is that decisions are often made from the paradigm of these contempts, and then vigorously defended in a face saving exercise that can sometimes last for years and cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
The emotional maturation of an institution, such as the RCMP, is reliant upon the ability to admit wrongdoing and mistakes. Experts recognize that growth can only come when the fearless moral inventory is progressed through to a public declaration of faults and errors.
The RCMP is faced with a paradoxical dilemma on this fifth step. To admit errors and mistakes, sometimes those that have had catastrophic results, is to "undermine the public confidence in the force." Yet to hide and cover up our mistakes, in order to save face, has the exact opposite effect of its intended purpose.
The oppression and cruelty that has been shown towards many members of the RCMP by its leaders is, tragically, a reflection of the larger picture of what has, at times, taken place with members of the public.
The Higher Power spoken of in the A.A. wording cannot translate into Parliament, Political Parties, or Prime Ministers. The admission to the Higher Power is that which is the objective standard of right and wrong, truth and deceit. The admission to others is the RCMP membership, the public, and a thoughtful and soulful admission to self at the highest levels of leadership.
Like the individual, these corporate confessions are painful. However, it is only through this pain that healing, restoration and reformation, will come.
posted by Bob S at 12:29 p.m.
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