360˚ Honesty - 24/7 Responsibility
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” Albert Einstein
Honesty is an essential quality valued by everyone and to be perceived as dishonest is a terrible label which is hard to defend against and harder to recover from. What we experience as trust is our personal response to honesty and we weigh a person’s actions more than their words. Actions express intent and once done can’t be altered. Words on the other hand are only abstract expressions of what might be or has been. A promise isn’t fulfilment of an action, only its prediction. If words are not followed by authentic action trust disappears. People and organisations are deemed dishonest and untrustworthy when their behaviours don’t align with their publicly-expressed values.
Edson W. Spencer, the former chairman of Honeywell Inc., once stated, “The businessman who straddles a fine line between what is right and what is expedient should remember that it takes years to build a good business reputation, but one false move can destroy that reputation overnight.”
We all like to think we are honest and strive to be seen so but we can all be selective in how we express our honesty. Whilst most of us don’t commit crimes or tell bare-faced lies we are sometimes prepared to withhold information or obfuscate if we think the ends justifies it. We may see an advantage for ourselves in lying or we might intend to protect others from unnecessary upset. It was once famously said by a British diplomat that he was, “being economic with the truth” and others attempted to “bury the news” of embarrassing political events. You may well get away with temptations of this kind but when you don’t the consequences can be enormous; think Watergate.
“I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior,' he said. 'You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.” Charles Colson
Temptations inducing leaders to lie or dissemble are everywhere. Inevitably, you will be the bearer of bad news one day. For example, your line manager will be unhappy if you and your team don’t deliver on targets. Do you hide the truth hoping you turn the corner later? Alternatively, your team may be unsettled by rumours of redundancy. Do you ignore them or try to deflect with spurious good news; or do treat them as adults with honest truth of what you know the situation to be.
“Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist.” Mary Kay Ash
360˚ honesty is hard work because you are fighting the fear of criticism and the threat to your pride but you will always make it worse by lying or obscuring. It’s hard enough remembering details of your complex job never mind maintaining all the fictions generated by dishonesty and avoidance. Dostoyevsky’s great moral tale “Crime and punishment” is a potent warning of the burden of unmanageable guilt. Honesty is most definitely the most successful policy in the long run.
Your life is the most potent seminar you will ever attend (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWiCA7m4b_U). I invite you to notice these things today:
- Did you lie or withhold something from someone to protect yourself? How did you feel about this? How do you think they will feel if they find out?
- Were you lied to today? How did you feel about this?
- Read one newspaper – notice how many examples of deception are described and the response to them. What if you were the originator of the deception?
- If you took responsibility for a mistake how did people react? How did you feel?
- At the end of today make notes on what you observed and felt and check them again next week and next month.
Recommended reading
Responsible Leadership – Thomas Maak & Nicola M Pless
Gary Coulton is CEO of Adaptive Intelligence Consulting Ltd supporting Leaders and their organisations create enduring business success (adaptiveintelligence.co.uk - @AdaptiveIC).
Gary also write on Linked2Leadership