Shining Light on Truth in the Workplace
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation where a person or a group makes someone question their own reality, memory, or perception. It often involved denial, misdirection, contradiction, or lying to make the victim feel confused, doubtful of their own experiences or even mentally unstable.
For example, If someone clearly remembers an event happening, but another person insists it never did – despite evidence – this could be gaslighting. It commonly occurs in relationships where one person wants to control and undermine the other.
Truthlighting is the opposite of gaslighting. While gaslighting distorts reality, making individuals doubt their experiences and perceptions, truthlighting illuminates the truth, affirms reality instead of distorting it, and reinforces trust rather than manipulation and deception. In the workplace, gaslighting can take the form of dismissing concerns about bias, denying unequal treatment, or making employees feel like their struggles are imagined. Truthlighting, by contrast, is an intentional effort to bring transparency, honesty, and accountability to workplace interactions, particularly in hiring, promotions, and leadership development.
01.
Acknowledge bias instead of denying it
Be aware of one's own biases such as affinity bias, gender bias, racial bias, etc. and focus on individual skills and strengths.
02.
Engage in fair opportunity and empower others
Standardize promotion process and decision making by communicating the requirements of the role, open the position for all, and provide fair interview.
03.
Provide data driven transparency
Provide company’s promotion data broken down by demographics.
04.
Validate Lived Experiences
Seek to understand and
build a culture where employees can speak-up without fear of being dismissed or manipulated.
05.
Encourage open dialogue and accountability
Create a culture of giving and receiving feedback to identify systemic barriers that need to be addressed.
Why it Matters?
Truthlighting fosters psychological safety, allowing employees—especially those from underrepresented groups—to express concerns, seek support, and advocate for fair treatment without fear of being dismissed. It builds trust and credibility within organizations by ensuring transparency in decision-making and providing employees with clear, actionable pathways for growth.
By adopting Truthlighting as a workplace practice, leaders, managers, and HR professionals can actively work toward equity and inclusion, creating environments where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to succeed. The act of truthlighting is shining a spotlight on employees’ achievements and advocating for their growth.