Why we lie

Have you ever lied about why you were not able to make a meeting at work? Did you not want to tell your boss or coworkers that you had something personal to take care of? Did you use the general term “appointment” instead of being specific that you needed to pick up your kids, attend a school function, or even go just to the gym?

On the other hand, have you had to step away from the dinner table to take a call, let someone else put the kids to bed so that you could be in a meeting at night, or worked on a project while watching practice?

Why is it that we don’t feel comfortable telling people in our professional life about our personal commitments, but don’t even hesitate to interrupt our personal life to meet our professional responsibilities?

The answer is safety. When we feel safe we share more of ourselves. Healthy cultures and great leaders know that they’ve hired an entire person and with that comes compromise for the overall success of the person and the company. A good leader is one who builds real relationships with employees so lying is never necessary.