Honesty – February 17, 2016
There can be no future, there can only be nothing, without honesty. Honesty is the truth of what is and what is not. There can only be progress in honesty.
Now do not get me wrong, I never said there is only good in honesty. That is a misnomer. That is a falsehood. That is a flat out lie.
Honesty is either good or bad. Honesty can never be just good.
As a leader, the sooner you embrace and hold on to the concept that to be honest is to be right and wrong (sometimes at the same time).
As a leader, it is your duty to live honestly and to be honest when the time comes. Oh, and it is always that time. There can be no shirking your responsibility to be honest.
You wanted to be a leader and real will never pull punches and tell a falsehood. I real leader must be prepared to deliver the truth no matter if it hurts.
A real leader, over time, will grow by delivering the truth all the time. By delivering the truth, a real leader becomes a great leader because of the wisdom he or she has learned over time.
They say the only reason science is great is because there is an undiscovered truth and it is the job of the scientist to discover that truth.
The same applies to the leader. The leader must do everything within her power to find the truth and to share that truth with everyone in the organization.
When it comes to discovering the truth, the journey is the best part. Like a scientist, filling a beaker or looking through a telescope the process of finding the truth is exhilarating, the business leader will work tirelessly to find the truth and deliver it to his followers to have that same level of exhilaration.
The process of finding out and telling everyone about it is what makes the leader become better. It is also, what keeps people looking towards that individual as a leader.
He is the one they turn to because he is the one that can deliver. He is the only one they see that can deliver the truth.
Once discovered the truth can never be undiscovered. It is out there and there is nothing anyone can do to squash it. Sure, some will doubt it, question it, or just flat out ignore it and you.
That’s alright. That comes with the territory. It is part of the expectations of being a leader.
The truth is your best friend and your own worst enemy.
While everyone expects, no they demand the truth to come from their leaders they also hate it. They hate it when their leaders bring honesty. For them the honesty comes in ### forms:
- They did something wrong and were caught.
- Someone else is better
- They are not good enough
Usually one of those three is enough to bring on the heartache. However, if the leader ever fails to be completely honest his followers will demand the leader’s head on a platter.
Nobody ever said it was easy being a leader. Then again, a leader that is honest will be fast-tracked to the level of great leader whether that honesty was good or bad, he was still counted on to deliver the truth.
We have been told to when it comes to addressing a problem we need to “remove that which is highly improbable and what you have left is most like the probable answer.”
Yeah, easier said than done. Because everyone wants to take the easy way to a resolution, we are more apt to go with the first thing that comes along no matter how unlikely improbable that easy answer is.
A leader must constantly strive to find the truth no matter how long it takes or how far you have to go. You just have to do it.
There is no shortcut, there is no paved road, and there is definitely no map to show you the way. Blaze your own trail and do not stop until you find it.
A leader should never forget that there are more than one side to every truth. The problem with the truth is that it is subjective. All truths are subjective and each carry their own definition of what the truth is.
However, what the truth is not is that it is not easy. Sometimes those that perceive your version of the truth and how you present that truth will have lasting effects.
If you stop to worry or react how others deal with the truth you bring them, you will most certainly paralyze yourself thus preventing you from bring the whole honest truth the next time you are called to do so. That is why you should never worry about the opinions of others especially when, as a leader, you are expected to deliver the truth.
Take action now by basing your future on today’s truth and never on the truth that others perceive of you, which is usually a lie. It may sound harsh but as a leader, you are expected to know yourself before attempting to have others call you a leader. Others will call you a leader because an implied understanding has formed between you and them. It is with those that resent you or feel threatened by you that will call you into question every time.
While not overtly bearing ill will towards you, they are however suspect of you and all that you do whether it is for their benefit or the benefit of others in the organization or not.
Just be yourself, deliver the truth, and let the naysayers cancel themselves out. They always do.
