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Did you see the New Year's edition of TIME magazine,
with the cover story on "whistleblowers"?
Three women "of ordinary demeanor but exceptional guts" were named
Persons of the Year for their roles in uncovering corruption in Enron
and Worldcom, and negligence within the FBI relating to September 11.
TIME called 2002 the Year of the Whistleblower.
None of these women sought to become public heroes. They tried to speak
truth to power in-house, but they became public figures only because
their memos were leaked. Yet "for believing that the truth is one thing
that must not be moved off the books, and for stepping in to make sure
that it wasn't", they were chosen by TIME as Persons of the Year for
2002.
Whistleblowing is not pleasant for anyone - least of all for the
whistleblowers and their families. They face a crisis of conscience.
They know something and they know it is not right to keep silent. Yet
they also know that speaking out could cost them friendships, salaries
and jobs. It could lead to attacks on their character, even physical
intimidation.
The Al Pacino film, The Insider, tells the story of the
man who exposed the lies of the tobacco industry and triggered an
historic court decision in the States against cigarette manufacturers
... but at great personal cost.
Some time ago, I met Paul van Buitenen, the civil servant who exposed
corruption in the European Commission, leading to the resignation of
the whole Commission. A fairly young Christian, he had acted out of
conscience on information he happened to stumble across in the course
of his job in Brussels. Of course, no-one in the Commission thanked
him. At the time I talked with him, he was facing enormous opposition,
also from close family members who did not share his faith. Eventually
he was forced to seek a new job in Luxembourg.
TIME asked the three Persons of the Year if any of them had been
thanked by their organisations for taking their stand for morality and
ethics. Their collective answer was simply to dissolve spontaneously
into laughter. The scarey thing, one of them said, was the amount of
resistance they met.
What they had experienced was the typical response of institutions
towards whistleblowers: be that a tobacco company, the European
Commission, the FBI, Enron, Worldcom... or the Catholic Church, as we
are learning from recent revelations of child abuse.
Why is this so typical? Because power, however 'spiritually' clad,
defends itself.
Of course, this would not be true of an organisation like YWAM, would
it?
Oh? Why not? YWAM is an organisation that makes mistakes too. Loren
Cunningham, our founder, has often said we probably make more mistakes
than any other mission because we give young people the freedom to step
out and experiment. And those of us who have been around in YWAM for a
while have heard enough horror stories to know how imperfect our
organisation is. We are not above instances of leadership abuse,
intimidation, manipulation and lapses of integrity. If we think we are,
we are living in denial. These instances run totally counter to our
stated values, and to our teaching. Yet, sadly, they happen. And
sometimes we fellow leaders lack the courage or consistency to rebuke
and exhort where necessary.
There is a false teaching circulating that puts leaders on infallible
pedestals with special hot lines to God. I heard recently of one YWAM
leader who told staff members that "when giants speak, midgets need to
listen"! No, we need always to create the space for staff to express
concerns.
How then can we avoid provoking whistleblowers?
We need to encourage our fellow leaders to hold us accountable. When
they see us operating contrary to our YWAM values and principles, they
need to love us enough to challenge us. We need to make our staff aware
that leaders are also accountable to those they lead, and that it's
okay for staff to raise questions when they perceive our actions
conflict with our stated values.
We need to make our staff aware of the guidelines drawn up by the
Global Leadership Team for dealing with conflict issues, and that staff
can appeal to be heard in mediation or arbitration processes.
Reading such guidelines can be a bit like having the airhostess explain
how to use the lifejacket under your seat - which you never think
you'll have to use. But let me encourage you to familiarise yourself
with this document, found on www.ywam.org/documents/rc.html. There's a
section of teaching written by Loren Cunningham on biblical guidelines
for resolving conflicts; plus principles of fair practice that bases
and ministries should follow in recruiting and accepting students and
staff. Then, when conflict does arise, there are guidelines for a
mediation hearing, or even arbitration (a hearing with a binding
verdict), if earlier phases fail to bring resolution.
These are processes would-be whistleblowers can appeal to. And it is
our job as leaders to ensure due process happens. May God forbid that
YWAM be a place where people are intimidated into silence on issues of
conscience.
While unpacking her boxes from the office, noted TIME, the lady from
Enron discovered a company pad of sticky-'post-its'. Across the top was
printed a quote from Martin Luther King Jr, which she wished more
people had taken to heart: "Our lives begin to end the day we
become silent about things that matter."
Till next week,
Jeff Fountain
YWAM Europe
©Youth With A
Mission Europe Office
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