Honesty As Your Core Value

Whether you are managing people, negotiating a contract, or selling a product, doing business presents situations in which evading the truth, exaggerating, diluting, spinning, or flat-out lying seem appropriate, acceptable, and logical.

• Dennis loves his job selling medical equipment, and he is good at it. “When the doctor asks me if that’s the best price, I say yes, but that’s not really true,” he admits. “The price could always be lower.” Is Dennis a great salesman or a liar? The answer: Both.

• Sharon, a colleague, tells me about a project she was being considered for. “I told them my fee was X, but that’s not true. I’ll do it for much less. We’ll see what happens!” In a situation in which the truth really is not expected anyway, is lying still lying? The answer: Yes.

You have a choice, of course. You can practice certain measures of deception and possibly never get caught. People may not even care that you bend the truth. They may see it as “part of doing business.” A national survey of 2390 workers found that 38 percent believed that their managers would authorize illegal or unethical conduct to meet business goals (Fast Company, September 2000).

Being honest can be burdensome. The fact remains, however, that it is an essential component of credibility.

Our nation’s recent bubble-bursting corporate and political scandals have replaced many rose-colored glasses with high-powered magnifiers. As prevalent as untruths have come to be, the sting that a lie leaves has not lost its potency. No one wants to be lied to. When we are, we rarely forget.

If you are unable to be fully transparent, you can still adhere to principles of honesty by offering as much information as you can, including why full transparency is not possible. Do not leave your followers to wonder about possible hidden agendas.

While truth telling in organizations can be complicated and messy, honesty must be an unbroken guiding principle, the hub on the leadership wheel. And it must be visibly demonstrated through actions and decisions, or trust and credibility will not exist.