The Moment: Telephone Fraud

Dear Anne Marie: I'm the office administrator in a small company that is growing rapidly. I'm the only person who realizes that the Executive Director is making regular, extremely long international phone calls that are personal and are costing the company a lot of money. Although she is a warm, dynamic person (and we get along well) I am afraid to bring this up with her. She is very defensive and volatile when she feels criticized. There is a recently formed Board of Directors. Should I talk to them? I feel very loyal to my company and I don't want anyone taking advantage of them.
   — Jane K.

Dear Jane: You are a highly principled person; you believe in honesty and fairness and you live and work by these values. This makes you eminently trustworthy to everyone you work with, valued equally by both colleagues and customers. You are a real asset to your company.

Managing The Moment

The "Moment to Manage" is your feeling of being burdened. You have a secret and you don't know what to do with it. If you inform on your boss, you betray her. If you talk to your boss you risk her volatility and possibly damage the relationship. If you do nothing, you betray the good people in your company. Not knowing what to do, you carry around your secret; and it gets heavier and heavier with each passing day.

The Game Plan

First, be accountable to yourself. What are your values? What are your personal ethics and moral code that give meaning and purpose to your life? Before you shift your focus to taking care of the people in your company, take stock of your own standards and boundaries. Be accountable to yourself first.

Second, assess your responsibilities. Are you the sole provider for your family? Are people depending on your steady income for their survival? Take the time required to balance the need to be accountable to yourself for living your values with the equally important need to be responsible to your family.

Third, find out about the systems of checks and balances in your company. Is there a financial officer answerable for fiscal matters? Does Human Resources have a procedure in place for employees to report issues confidentially? Going directly to the new Board of Directors may create even more problems in the company leaving you with the unpleasant task of defending your actions.

Fourth, check out your assumptions. You are assuming your boss is stealing from the company. What if she isn't? What if she has made arrangements to make these calls and pay for them later? You may be correctly observing her behavior but incorrectly interpreting what it means. For your own sake, it would be best to refrain from stating your interpretations as facts.

Finally, make the best decision you can with the information available. Be prepared and willing to deal with any problems that may arise from your decision. Remember, there are no perfect solutions here; there is only the solution you can live with.