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Are Your Employees Really Telling You the Truth: 3 Ways to Tell?

Guest post by: Sylvia Lafair

Article Overview: Do you ever wonder if your employees are telling the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth? Here are some tips on truth telling for everyone and how to ask lots of great questions to get to the heart of the matter.

Are Your Employees Really Telling You the Truth: 3 Ways to Tell?



From the first time we got caught taking the cookie from the cookie jar as a kid we all learned that sometimes it is dangerous to tell the truth. We also learned pretty early to separate the big lies from the little fibs. Do you know anyone who tells the truth 100% of the time? I remember when I was a teen and I was pulled over for going too fast on a local road. I looked up at the police office and said, in a rather dramatic tone, "But officer, I was rushing home because I feel so sick, I think I'm going to throw up."

He looked at me for a moment and I thought I was close to being ticket free when he looked suspicious. I then upped the anti and informed him I was on the verge of a fecal explosion right there in the car. That seemed to be the right pitch and he told me to drive carefully and hurry home.

Anyone believe in karma? I didn't even know how to spell the word back then. All I know is three days later I had a virus that kept me internally cleaned out up and down.

What did I learn from that? Be carful with even your little fibs, they have a way of back firing. I also learned that it is easier to tell the truth, you have less to remember.

So, here are ways to notice if you are getting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from your employees:

*Truth sentences are short, no more than seven to twelve words. So, if employees are doing a lot of run on sentences attempting to explain something to you, be wary.

*Watch eye movements; when you are being told the truth, there is a tendency for someone to face you "full Monty" and there is a willingness to look you directly in the eyes. Avoiding eye contact is a pretty sure give away.

*Notice if there is a lot of voting. In other words, if the employee talks about all the other people who side with him or her, your radar should be up that something underhanded is going on.

Your part in this search for truth is to ask lots of open-ended questions. The "yes" and "no" answers are loved by tall tale tellers. They can get away easily and without a great deal of accountability. So, become practiced in asking reporter style questions of "what, where, when, how, and why" as you question to find the fibs and stories that don't match up.

It is interesting that years ago when President Nixon said over and over he knew nothing about Watergate, a group of deaf people were asked to access whether he was lying or not. They laughed and unanimously said he was lying (this is before the real truth came out). When asked how they knew, they said it was all in the eyes and his unwillingness to face forward.

Next time I will address what to do when you know there is lying and it is creating lots of discomfort among your staff and no one is willing to be the whistle blower.

Related Articles
  To Tell the Truth
  Find Those People
  Truth-Telling Game
  Managing the Likeable But Poor Performer
  Little White Lies

Article Tags: 3 ways, avoid, fibs, heart of the matter, little white lies, nothing but the truth, telling the truth, truth teller, whole truth



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