“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs.” - Seth Godin

BOOSTER BYTE 57

Some fear the fallout of revealing an ugly truth about themselves, their employees or the enterprise they lead. Certainly, the impact—at least in the short term—may well be negative. Investors may run for the hills. Company stock may tank. However, the reason you are there and doing what you do is a much longer-term proposition. The near-term fallout may sting, but it doesn’t change your ultimate cause, your Why.

Recall Martha Stewart. Had she simply admitted a temporary lapse in judgment when she authorized trading her ImClone stock based on inside information, she probably wouldn’t have gone to prison. She might even have turned state’s evidence and actually come out the hero. Stewart might have even hung onto her corporate positions at Omnimedia. But no, Martha Stewart chose to lie about her involvement in the scheme. She traded short-term convenience for what turned out to be a felony conviction that will dog her for the rest of her gilt-edged life.

The impact of being honest will ultimately help your credibility with those who count. People understand how difficult it must be to suck it up and admit that something horrible happened, offer a solution, make recompense and move on. Such a selfless act speaks volumes about an individual’s integrity. When the next crossroads comes (and it certainly will), the person’s past refusal to take the easy way out enhances their current credibility. People reason that if they told the truth about such an awful past event, then they must be telling the truth about the latest, not-so-awful event. Such an individual becomes the go-to person not only for the truth, but also to lead the organization out of the mess in which it finds itself.

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