Speaking truth to power has consequences that the people who advocate it as a life strategy don’t seem to understand.
If you are like me and you internalize stress and you make the mistake as I recently did of answering your boss’ question about not seeming to be “OK” with the truthful answer of “Well, actually, no, I’m not OK. I’m not especially happy with either my job or the organization at the moment. In fact, I’m so unhappy that Monday night I was puking and shitting blood at the same time and 95% of that was due to stress.” you may have spoken truth to power but you’ve also given power leverage over you.
You have told them just how much they can push you, just how much they can get you to wrap yourself around your own axle. Of course, any idiot who tries to manipulate you by using this information ignores the basic principle: an animal with nothing to lose is the most dangerous thing on the planet.
Given that my boss’ response to my answer was to tell me that I needed to not internalize so much stress is it any wonder I’ve initiated the exit strategy planning?