Wield the Truth

There is a tool in the great leader’s toolbox that is often overlooked, that often goes unused. You’ll be surprised by what it is. It’s the truth.

One of the most powerful weapons you have as a leader is the skillful declaring of the truth. This is particularly true in our day of swirling misinformation and, frankly, lies being passed off as facts.

You see, many leaders fear telling their team or their followers the bald truth. These leaders fear that people will blame them for conditions or freak out and thus weaken the organization. In short, these weak leaders think that telling the truth results in destruction and loss.

The fact is that when people hear the truth from a leader, they have greater respect for him or her, they continue to look to that leader as a trusted source, and they adjust themselves to the new realities. This makes for a more faithful team and for an organization that is better prepared for whatever is coming. By not telling people the truth, you leave them unsure and unprepared. This often leaves them resentful and unproductive.

I have to turn to Winston Churchill on this matter. One of his great strengths was telling the British people the truth. If a battle was lost, he told them. If the factories weren’t producing enough planes, he said so. He was famous, for example, for once saying, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. Perhaps, though, it is the end of the beginning.” People heard this, found in Churchill a trusted leader, and prepared themselves for the long haul.

Churchill once complained, “No one in great authority had the wit, ascendancy, or detachment from public folly to declare these fundamental, brutal facts to the electorate.”

In other words, no one in charge had the larger view and the courage to tell the people the truth.

This failure to lead with truth has huge consequences. I have a friend who lives in a downtown building. Right next to his building, a skyscraper is going up. Now, the company building the skyscraper has tried to keep the folks in my friend’s building informed about blasting and ramming. This is because the noise can be deafening. Yet every time the company gives a schedule and people adjust themselves to it, the schedule turns out to be wrong. A person in my friend’s building invites guests to stay in their home, and then there is noise similar to what it would sound like if you were wearing a football helmet and someone was hitting it with a hammer. So, while this company could have won great trust and even affection, there is tension and disappointment. All the people in my friend’s building needed was the truth. They would have done the rest.

So, here are the core principles: The truth has power. The truth is clarifying. The truth gives people a chance to prepare. The truth sets expectations. The truth adorns trusted leaders.

Is there anywhere you are hiding from or shading the truth thinking this is good leadership? Find it. Rethink it. Put the truth forefront.

Be a Churchill and win the day. Do it by wielding the truth well.