The Truth Will Out
Welcome to the thirty-sixth edition of “In Touch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so please hit “reply” and let me know what you think.
Story of the Week: The Truth Will Out
A friend of mine recently lost a considerable sum of money due to a serious betting habit.
He chose, of course, not to tell his wife in order not to upset her. He even went as far as telling her that he had kicked the habit and was spending time on his mobile device, is mainly due to his TikTok ‘addiction’, not betting.
This got me thinking about the whole business of lying. Is it acceptable to tell what we often describe as a ‘white lie’ when we want to spare someone’s feelings? When does it become unacceptable?I have concluded that the world of business should definitely be an area where lying is viewed as unacceptable, mainly because companies, their leaders and their reputations are built on trust. CEOs, in particular, are expected by shareholders and investors to maintain high ethical standards. No organisation can afford to lose trust and a sure way to lose it is by lying — whether to customers, partners or employees — because lies are almost always discovered eventually. As the saying goes, “The truth will out” and, once that happens, the inevitable question arises: “What else have they lied about?”
Lying is intentional dishonesty. The person who lies is deliberately trying to make someone else believe something that is not true. This is definitely not right. If, on the other hand, a lie is told to protect someone’s feelings, like for example telling a terminally ill friend that everything is going to be all right at the end, it can perhaps be justified and even forgiven. If it’s merely for personal or professional gain, it’s utterly wrong.
Few of us would disagree with this statement: “Never trust someone who lies to you.” We should also make sure that we implement the logical continuation: “Never lie to someone who trusts you.”
Words of Wisdom
Who are we really lying to?
“The most common lie is that which one lies to himself; lying to others is relatively an exception.” Friedrich Nietzsche
A Question to Ponder, dear friend.
“Was there a time you ever deviated from the truth? Was there a solid reason behind your decision?”
Hit reply and let me know please.
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Best Regards,
Michael R. Virardi
