What Jack Bauer has taught me

24 March 2010

I love watching 24 every Monday night. I’ve been watching it for years. In almost every episode, our hero Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland) tries to accomplish something and is foiled. He must then tell someone important, like the President of the United States, something that (s)he doesn’t want to hear. (For the past two seasons, the president is a woman.)

Often there will an exchange that goes something like this:

POTUS: Jack, were you able to capture the terrorists and stop the nuclear warheads from entering Manhattan?

JACK: No, Madame President, the terrorists got away and the warheads are headed toward Manhattan as we speak.

(The above is only an example, this season we’re dealing nuclear rods, not warheads.)

When I hear these exchanges, I think about how brave Jack is to tell the president exactly what she doesn’t want to hear. I’m impressed by how direct he is (because, after all, there’s no time to waste).

During the commercial breaks, sometimes I think about how I can follow that example in my life.

For years, I’ve had a very hard time telling people what they don’t want to hear. (In the excellent book, Organizing for Your Brain Type by Lanna Nakone, I discovered that I’m a Harmonizer—boy did that make sense.) When I was younger, I was known to fudge the truth a little, just to take the edge off of what I had to say.

But since I’ve become older and wiser and a business owner working one-on-one with clients, I’ve learned that no good can come from this. While people might not like hearing the full-on truth, they appreciate hearing it now rather than later.

Truth, honesty, transparency, authenticity: these things have become more and more important as I’ve aged. I’ve found that being direct with clients and prospective clients helps manage expectations and makes them happier, not the less happy.

One thing I’ve noticed since I’ve adopted Jack Bauer’s direct approach to answering questions is that people hardly ever react as badly as I thought they would.

Speaking the direct truth doesn’t have to mean that I’m ever rude or mean. I can give a direct answer that’s phrased to blunt the pain. Diplomacy is important, particularly in my work as an organizer. And so is honesty.

Tagged with: 24, communication