I have been asked to do what I consider unethical consulting to good clients…and I have paid a price for refusing to do this. I won’t go into details, but this usually was requested by my company to cover up poor planning.
I was caught in the middle as a project manager – do the company’s bidding, or be upfront with the client…the proverbial rock and hard place.
I could never persuade my managers in these situations to be truthful – that the truth is a much better path. They were concerned and fearful about losing money. But time and again I saw these lies, on other projects not under my control, come back and bite the company – they eventually lost money anyway and usually the client. I could never understand upper management’s logic in doing this – they never seemed to learn their lesson.
I could not lie to the client, or cover over problems – so I fell out of favor with my company and paid the price – I was deemed something of a trouble maker and someone that was not ateam player. This created a very stressfull internal working environment for me.
I eventually left the company and started my own business. But the scars of this experience remain…and I have found that these scars are visible to potential employers now. It’s vicious and I never want to put myself in this place again. Any suggestions on how to represent myself to potential employers and avoid companies that will place me in this no-win position? I am always concerned for the company I work for, but do not ask me to lie or skirt a problem, and do not hang me out in the wind when I need the support of my company in dealing with a client.
