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Lessons in Leadership Legal "wiretaps" Who is listening to your phone calls? By Robert L. Bailey
Concerned about the National Security Agency’s program of tapping international telephone calls between American citizens and those with known al-Qaeda and terrorist ties? To me it’s a far greater invasion of personal privacy for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials to go through one’s underwear when one is going on a business trip, but it’s an invasion that most of us gladly accept as an effort to ensure our safety. Another form of wiretap is a far greater concern to me. It’s legal. There are no Congressional hearings about it. It happens thousands of times a day, often causing significant damage to business organizations. It frequently involves senior management people who should know better. It’s a form of wiretap that each of us can avoid. I’m referring to cell phone calls and conversations that occur in airports, on airplanes, in restaurants, and in other public places. “I heard some folks talking about you at the airport the other day,” a next-door neighbor told me. “Was it complimentary?” I asked. “Well … not really,” he responded. “It had something to do with computer software, and they gave me the impression that you are not their favorite person.” He gave me the date of his business trip. After checking my calendar, I figured out the names of the people who were giving me a not-too-favorable public evaluation. I can’t be too critical of them because at the time I probably wouldn’t have nominated any of these software peddlers to the Salespersons’ Hall of Fame. But I would have had considerably more respect for them, and their company would have been far better off, had their conversation at the airport not taken place. Too many of us believe that the anonymity of those around us somehow provides a shroud of secrecy around our personal and business conversations. “But there was a lot of noise and nobody was listening,” it can be argued. You’re at a party, with dozens, even hundreds, of people, all talking at once, creating a buzz that would drown out the engines of a 747. There’s so much chatter that you feel confident that your conversation is relatively private. Then someone across the room mentions your name. Your ears perk up. Your name and bits of the conversation surrounding it stand out from the hubbub. We’ve all had this experience. I’ve been on airplanes, trying to concentrate on reading materials or working on a business project, when the word “insurance” or the name of a competitor cuts through the noise. My attention shifts from my task to the conversation taking place nearby. On one occasion two officials of a competing insurance company were on the way to a state insurance department to file a rate change. I didn’t pick up helpful competitive information, but you can bet I listened intently. Another time, two employees of a company were doing a near-public evaluation of another employee. “It looks like we’re going to have to let Sara go. We’ve tried and tried to get her up to speed and she just hasn’t responded. We have no other option.” I didn’t know the two people involved in the discussion and, therefore, didn’t know Sara; but somebody on the plane might have picked up just enough of the conversation to identify Sara, who is perhaps a relative, a friend or a neighbor. Cell phone use is especially abused. According to one source, there are 193 million cell phones in the United States alone, and it seems that all 193 million callers believe that nobody can hear their conversation except the person on the other end of the call. I’ve heard conversations on pricing of certain products—products I can’t identify, but perhaps a competitor sitting just feet away can use that information to advantage. I’ve heard conversations about hiring an especially valuable person from another company. Again, I didn’t know the people or the company. But someone nearby might have been able to put together the bits of the conversation and identify the employee and/or the company. Public use of cell phones often amounts to legal wiretaps. The world is listening. And what the world hears can be injurious. Even if it’s not damaging, it’s rude. Forcing those nearby to listen to personal or business conversations can be as intrusive as a noisy neighbor playing a boom box at full blast on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps we can forgive the person who inadvertently leaves a cell phone on during church or a business meeting. But to answer the phone in such circumstances is never acceptable. Those of you who regularly read these columns or have read my book Plain Talk About Leadership know I believe that great leaders must be great communicators. Most dimensions of leadership require thorough, ongoing communication. But leaders also have the responsibility to know when not to communicate. Leaders must know how to keep confidential information confidential: • Any non-public information should be discussed only in the privacy of an office or conference room, never by cell phone or in public. Competitors are always looking for any information that may give them an advantage. • Discussion of personnel matters likewise should be held in private. Discussions that reach the wrong people can be embarrassing and even slanderous. • Leaders are expected to conduct themselves in a friendly, courteous, gentlemanly or lady-like manner—always. A customer or prospective customer may relate an intrusive cell phone call, objectionable language, or rude behavior to your company, whose name might be identified through one end of the phone conversation or by a company logo on a luggage tag. “That’s not the kind of people I want to deal with,” an important customer might say. Those of us who were in business in pre-cell phone days may have an advantage. We learned that it isn’t necessary to be in touch with the world 24/7. None of us is that important. Chances are that people back at the office can take care of most matters just as well as we can, if not better. Turn off the cell phone. Check voice mail periodically and return important calls when it’s not an imposition on people nearby and when confidential matters will not be discussed. It’s not likely that Congress will hold hearings. And there won’t be hours of media coverage about the pros and cons of these kinds of “wiretaps.” Yet this form of eavesdropping could be a far greater threat to many American businesses than anything Congress might discuss. * |
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