Trust is one of the building blocks of a successful business. Breaking someone’s trust is one of the hardest things to come back from.
Today we’re going to talk about dealing with trust within a group and outside it. Now there are a lot of times where you can’t choose who you associate with, but there are a number of instances where people know who’s who in their social structure. And universally there is one social status that is generally shunned. That status is the Snitch.
The maxim “Snitches get stitches” has always been present in one form or another. The reason is that a Snitch, tattle tale, or informant breaks the trust of the individuals they surround themselves.
Snitches come in two major forms. Those who do it for personal gain and those who do it for a sense of power and superiority.
The most famous Snitch for gain is Judas Iscariot. His betrayal of Christ for thirty pieces of silver has made him infamous for hundreds of years. Another famous example, at least in America, is Benedict Arnold who betrayed the Continental Army by attempting to surrender West Point fort to the British. Both of these individuals wanted something out of the deal, for Judas it was pay and for Arnold it was for the recognition that he felt denied.
Now you may be thinking that Arnold should fall in the second set of Snitches, those who do it for a sense of power and superiority. But he doesn’t. The reason is that Arnold was an accomplished officer, he already knew he was superior, bu he was being held back by the devices of others. Joining the British would raise him to the rank he felt he deserved and increase his pay. It was a very physical and real advancement for him.
For the second set of Snitches it’s all about the feeling of power and superiority. This means they leverage information to give them a sense of power. And while leveraging that information is a skill any and all power comes from someone else. It’s the classic childish taunt of “My dad can beat up your dad” that translates over into “My boss is going to gut your boss”.
These individuals get any power they might wield from an external source, not from within themselves. They cannot confront something themselves, but use others to do it for them. This is not to be confused with directing a team in a leadership position or having someone who is better at a task do the job. This is the malignant abuse of a skill to get someone else to punish others because the snitch doesn’t approve.
This also doesn’t apply to things that are morally wrong. Those things need to be called out. But the Snitch calls out things that are against policy rather than anything that deals with morality.
Snitches are the petty tyrants of the world who use the forces of others kings to enforce their rule. But how do we deal with them?
Well first you have to observe or be burned by the snitch if you’re not told about their activity. Once you realize that individual’s penchant for information abuse you need to filter the information you give them. And you need to be able to communicate to others but in a way that won’t divulge information.
At any given point you need to stop your conversation and move to what we shall call “safe topics”. For me this would be changing the topic to the weather. If I don’t just make a comment about how the weather has been and specifically state that we should talk about the weather it means I don’t trust someone in the area. The reason is conversation is a big thing for me. Interesting conversation is generally not about the weather but about the science of things, stories, and the deep meaning of life.
Avoid people who will break your trust for their own ends and build a network of people you’d trust anything with. If you don’t have a set of trustworthy people you won’t get far.
Think about it.
Sincerely,
The Irreverent Gentleman.
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