Quote-A-Day: Day 230

The worst told truth speaks louder than the best told lie. #QuoteADay #Day230 #edchat #edu #ASCDL2L #BeTruthful

The best leaders are also the ones who have the most difficulty telling a lie.

In fact, for these leaders, it physically and emotionally pains them to engage in lie-telling behavior.  These leaders strive to always tell the truth because it is the right thing to do, and because it feels much better than the alternative.

That doesn't mean that telling the truth always leaves everyone happy, but it does mean that we should engage in truth-telling (and encourage the same for everyone else) for the simple reason that the pain we or others might feel when the truth is told is much, much less than the pain felt when we discover someone has been lying to us (or worse, when we, ourselves, get caught in a lie).

No matter how little or insignificant the situation might seem, there is never a good reason to lie.  Even the smallest lies can snowball into a much larger issue, and even the truths that lend the largest heartache can say more about the character of the leader than a lie that is well-told, and therefore, less likely to be discovered.

A simple rule of thumb?

The more you're worried about how people will react to the truth, the more important it is for you to share it with them.  We should never lie; truths can lay the building blocks for open and honest conversation, while lies do one thing, and that is push people to believe that trust cannot exist.