By Mike Myatt, Chief Strategy Officer, N2growth
--In the wake of some of the recent, and highly publicized, business,
financial and political scandals that seem to dominate the media of late, I
thought it might be an opportune time to assess the value of truth in
business. If you peel back the layers on most of the debacles that often
transform themselves into highly sensationalized headlines, you'll see
that said problems often begin with rationalizations,
justifications, posturing, and spin being substituted for the truth. I
think sometimes we all need to revisit reality, and examine why we do the
things we do. It is my hope that this week's column will be of some use in this
regard.
Try this thought on for size. I believe that truly great leaders view
business as a no spin zone. The most successful business leaders of
our time have built their personal brand by letting right thinking, right
decisioning, and right acting serve as their guide. If you have to
manipulate the truth to gain an advantage, the advantage is not worth the
perceived gain, for any advantage gained in deceit will surely
come at a very high cost…the sacrifice of your honor and integrity. In
today’s post I’ll address the often overlooked benefits of truth telling
as a key success metric.
While there is not an adult breathing today that hasn’t “misspoke” err--told
a lie, not everyone is pathological liar. A key difference between those that
succeed and those that fail as leaders is whether they are known for their
honesty or lack thereof. One of the best traits you can possess as a leader is
to be known for your candor. Whether in written or oral form, communication
that is clear, concise, on point, and truthful will gain the respect and
admiration of peers and subordinates alike. While many wannabe
leaders possess the ability to selectively self-edit on the fly as they wax
eloquent for the purpose of persuading their audience, true
leaders understand that all the justifications and
rationalizations in the world cannot replace the value of the truth.
The truth is an interesting tool in that it is often a difficult master to
serve. Telling the truth is not always easy, and may subject you to
substantial opposition and controversy over the short run, but it will do
nothing but help build your reputation, success, and sustainability over the
long haul. While I’ve come across many executives that have been able to
achieve short term success via less than honorable conduct, these successes to
the one have been short lived as poor business practices
will eventually be found out and in turn will unwind any ill
gotten gains. However I have yet to meet a CEO or entrepreneur who has endured
the test of time without having an exceptionally strong moral
compass. When reflecting about how you communicate and conduct business
with others consider the following thoughts:
1. Telling the truth is a habit. For those not grounded in
the truth you’ll find that it requires practice. Each truth-telling event
strengthens you for another, and each one gets easier, until telling the truth
becomes second nature. It is never to late to start telling the truth.
Regardless of whatever your past indiscretions might be, you can change your
future by beginning to tell the truth today. Truth is a habit well worth
forming.
2. Telling the truth is the right thing to do. Lying is
wrong. It’s just that simple, and oh by the way, omitting, editing, spinning,
blurring or repurposing the truth is also wrong. Selective truth telling is
synonymous with being a liar. Resist any form of deceit or manipulation if you
want to achieve sustainable success.
3. The heaviest baggage you can carry is a lie. By opting
not to tell the truth then you are simultaneously opting to take on
the heaviness of the burden of deceit. Each time you encounter a person,
circumstance, or situation that reminds you of the untruth, your
conscience will weigh you down as you become a fugitive in your own mind
running from the lie you told.
4. Lies will always come back to haunt you. We’ve all
witnessed some fairly elaborate cover-ups over the years, and as we’ve all seen
they always turn out the same way…in disasters that could have been avoided had
the truth been told to begin with. You might be able to run, but you can’t hide
from your lies. While you might be able to conceal your deceit for a time, your
lies will always resurface at some point in the future…it may be a week, a
month or a decade but they will find you out.
5. Lies create a barrier to personal and professional development.
Time, energy and worry are often spent on hashing and rehashing wrong acts and
untruths. Instead of wasting resources on fruitless endeavors you could be
invest in transacting business, building relationships, learning, or any
number of other positive things.
6. Truth strengthens your reputation and enhances your personal
brand. If you consistently and effortlessly tell the truth a
strange thing happens…other people will notice. You will quickly earn
the respect of others by becoming known as a person of character and
integrity. There is no more valuable mental association you can tie to your
personal brand than that of integrity.
7. Truth deepens the quality of relationships. There is a
distinct difference between the surface level acquaintances that will
gravy-train your success and the deep professional relationships and true
friendships that will endure the test of time regardless of
circumstances.
8. A clear conscience leads to a healthy mind. Its a nice
feeling to be able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning and actually
like what you see. I don’t know about you, but I have better things to do than
try and remember all the different stories that I’ve told to people. The truth
is a gentle, healing sponge that keeps your conscience clear, provides you with
a positive outlook and a confident and formidable presence.
9. Truth is a powerful example. As a leader you have in
fact chosen to be a role model and as such it is incumbent upon you to model
the truth. When friends, peers, subordinates, competitors, vendors, partners,
suppliers, investors, lenders, etc. see that you actually walk the talk,
you will not only have earned their confidence and respect, but you’ll find
that they will also try to model that behavior.
I think the subject of truth telling can be best summarized by reflecting on
the following axiom: ”The truth will set you free.” It has been said that
a person is only as sick as their secrets, and I would strongly encourage
you to be honest and forthright in your communications and actions as you’ll
be healthier, happier and more successful. Remember that business
should be a no spin zone.