---

Guest post by: Rebel Brown Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

There's nothing wrong with a little white lie, right? So we deliver an upbeat message to our team to keep everyone engaged. Why share the reality that the we're in a bigger mess than we want to admit, even to ourselves? It will only make things worse.

Or we over-promise our capabilities to win a new customer. We will find a way to satisfy their needs, and they'll just love us when they get to know us.

Maybe we stretch the truth about ourselves - our experience, our skills. We're sure we can learn on the job and do well - we always have before.

Little white lies can lead to great big problems.

When we set an expectation - that expectation is taken as a commitment. If we set that expectation with a little white lie - we begin our commitment out of integrity.

Sooner or later, the truth comes out. In the worst case, we lose the respect and trust of those we 'mislead'. In a better case, we sneak by with only a minor ripple - we met that customers' needs, even if it did take an extra month or so. But we still lost some of their confidence when the truth emerged.

In the best case - no one ever knows about that little white lie. We get by and live to tell another - the next time we don't want to face reality.

White lies quickly become dirty dark secrets.

No matter how we rationalize them, white lies are still lies. We can't base our business, or our lives, on untruths. When we start from a faulty foundation, we're setting ourselves up for the fall.

Just read the business section and you'll still see examples of that sad, sad truth. The names you see there didn't start out by telling their ultimate whoppers. They began with tiny steps across the line of truth.

As part of my New Decade commitments - I'm watching myself for those little white lies. I took a good hard look and realized I was guilty of stepping across that line - and I didn't like it. Not big stuff - just baby steps. But no more. I'm sticking to my truth. And yes, I'm learning to share it more graciously as part of the journey.

How about you?

Related Articles

  Live a Life of Discovery
  Oprah's Was Steamin' Mad
  Lesson #2: It Takes Passion to Win the Fight
  Insurance Producers - What Business are You In?
  LEADER ARE LIKE CALENDAR ,NEVER LIES.
  Lesson #5: Do Not Waste Time Marketing Outside Your Target Audience
  Under the Bright Lights of Success: How White Fought His Way to the Top
  The Ultimate Fighting Champion: Dana White is Born
  Lesson #3: Give Them an Experience They Will Never Forget
  Is Six Sigma Still Relevant in a Dynamically Changing World
  Lesson #1: Fight the Limits That Are Imposed On You
  The Grey Zone
  Relevance of White Space in Web Design
  Lies We Live By
  Stepping Into the Ring: The UFC Fights Back
  Broadening Your PR and Media Bull's-eye
  Top 3 Reasons: White Paper Is Not Dead
  Lesson #4: A Solid Reputation is Worth Its Weight in Gold
  Everyone has a plan. Some plans are better than others because they contain all or most of the necessary steps and sequence them in an appropriate order. Most plans have gaps where steps should be and the sequence doesn't lend itself to success. One area where we see this occur repeatedly is when companies are about to hire a Sales VP or Director AND
  Another Career Option Bites the Dust

Related Forum Posts

Favorite Christmas movies
Book: Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead But Gutsy Girls Do
9 Lies that are holding you back
Does poll data sway you?
Business plans are a waste of time

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

3 Health Insurance Misconceptions

A Strategic Plan from the Bottom Up

Five Ways to Boost Your Email Delivery Rate

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.