SPIRITUALITY DEFINING THE DIVINE
AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION
BEING ASSERTIVE PART II
JYOTI PAINTEL-BOWLES @jyotipaintel Spirituality Contributor
In 2017 the former CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, sent out a company-wide email to his employees on the topic of corporate bureaucracy titled “Communication within Tesla.” Musk, who is as much admired as he is criticized in the tech world for his visionary ideas, eccentricity and bold business style, went on to explain why communication hierarchy creates a toxic environment and impedes creativity. “Instead of a problem getting solved quickly, where a person in one department talks to a person in another department and makes the right thing happen, people are forced to talk to their manager who talks to their manager who talks to the manager in the other department who talks to some-
one on his team. Then the info has to flow back the other way again. This is incredibly dumb. Any manager who allows this to happen, let alone encourages it, will soon find themselves working at another company. No kidding.” I admire Musk’s innovative style and his desire to create a new approach to achieving an equitable corporate culture. I’m not sure how successful this was at Tesla, but I do have my suspicions that implementing such a radical communication practice was not as seamless as he had envisioned. For one, it is an assumption that an employee would feel free to go to a supervisor about a problem. In fact, most people are avoidant of any uncomfortable conversation or conflict, not to mention the fear of reprisal from management or colleagues for complaining. In closing his letter, Musk acknowledged that better communication could bridge a divide between employees and management.
“One final point is that managers should work hard to ensure that they are not creating silos within the company that create an 'us vs. them' mentality or impede communication in any way. This is unfortunately a natural tendency and needs to be actively fought.” This same communication problem is often mimicked in our personal relationships as well: We have something we need to express but fear the reaction of the other. When we can’t communicate without fear, we tend to separate ourselves and create emotional or physical barriers. As in most things in life, change takes courage and determination but being “seen and heard” is ultimately vital to our happiness and sense of fulfillment.
Aggressive, Passive or Assertive? No one person communicates the same way in every circumstance, but there are three types of communication styles that we will utilize based on the popular Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator: aggressive, passive and assertive. For the
“To be passive is to let others decide for you. To be aggressive is to decide for others. To be assertive is to decide for your self. And to trust that there is enough, that you are enough.” - Edith Eva Eger page 155
