Alaska News

Lynne Curry: Tell the truth; stop the excuses

Q: When I got a call last December asking me if I'd accept a state appointment, I turned it down even though I wanted to say yes. I was worried about the scrutiny I'd suffer in the vetting process. For this same reason, I've never run for office even though I've wanted to.

The problem started four decades ago when I returned from Vietnam and started a career in state government. When I was interviewing for my first job, I made myself out to be a Vietnam War hero. That wasn't true; I was a clerk in the war and miles from any real action. No one ever checked my stories, and over the years, I added to them. I never put them on paper but they're something many people know about and would come up in any discussion of my history or qualifications.

Two months ago, I decided to leave state government and move into the private sector. I don't have a position yet; however, the executive search firm that researched my background learned about my hero stories from one of my references. Apparently the chief executive officer at one of the companies who might hire me has a history of preferring veterans and I've been told to bring up my bravery. How do I get around this?

A: Tell the truth. Isn't it about time? Your war story embellishments have cost you opportunities you really wanted.

Learn from what happened to "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams. When viewers learned he lied multiple times about his helicopter coming under fire in Iraq and seeing a dead body floating past his hotel after Hurricane Katrina, his falsehoods torpedoed his otherwise stellar career. Williams' attempt to fix the problem by alleging he'd misremembered further damaged his future by prolonging the scandal.

You can't afford to tell your bogus story one more time. The man with whom you plan to interview honors the military. What happens if he asks you questions because your story interests him? Will you provide him fake details? If you land the job, what happens if he knew someone who served in the same area or battle in which your heroism allegedly took place? You'll get fired.

On the other hand, you won't lose anything by confessing to the executive search firm. They won't out you. Instead, you'll free yourself. It's time.

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Q: I was fired for texting while driving.

Here's the situation. My supervisor is the one who texted me in the first place and I only texted back a one-word answer, "no." I only glanced down twice, once to see the message and then to hit the letters "no."

I was told I violated company policy; however, our company policy prohibits talking on cellphones while driving, not texting. I need to know how to get my job back.

A: While I don't know the grounds under which your company fired you or how your employer learned you texted, if your employee handbook has a rule against employees engaging in illegal activity, your texting qualifies. Alaska statute 28.35.161 bans texting while driving.

If you want your job back, say you learned from the situation and ask to reapply for hire. The excuses you're putting forth, that the text you responded to came from your supervisor, that your eyes only left the roadway twice and that the policy didn't specifically ban texting, sound like weaseling. You could have pulled over into a parking lot and texted back.

Meanwhile, your employer needs to update their policy and make sure employees know they're never expected to answer a call or text while driving, but instead to pull over and park before handling their cellphone. Multiple studies validate that texting and cellphone usage while driving dramatically increase the chance of an accident. If an accident occurs, it's easy to verify texting or other cellphone usage, which means trouble both for the cellphone user and the user's employer, particularly if the user was driving for work or conducting work on the cellphone.

Lynne Curry has moved. This column now runs Tuesdays online and on Page A-3, the Economy section, where you can read news on business and the economy Tuesday-Sunday every week.

Lynne Curry | Alaska Workplace

Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of “Navigating Conflict,” “Managing for Accountability,” “Beating the Workplace Bully" and “Solutions,” and workplacecoachblog.com. Submit questions at workplacecoachblog.com/ask-a-coach/ or follow her on workplacecoachblog.com, lynnecurryauthor.com or @lynnecurry10 on X/Twitter.

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