Truth theorem

Some things are true for the moment, some things are true for longer and some things are just true. The current culture, no matter what your view, seems more comfortable with a theory of relativity rather than immutability.

At a time (there is that aspect of relativity) when authenticity is the most important quality to be found in a company, a colleague or a politician, truth has even more relevance (there it is again).

As the late Jack Palance as "Curly," the only real cowboy in the movie, said in "City Slickers," the key to life is "just one thing." It falls to each of us to figure out what that one thing is. Today, for people interested in building and leading successful teams, that one thing is truth.

And nowhere is truth and the trust it engenders more meaningful than when it grants an adherent permission to lead. This is certainly true now. The question is: is it always true?

At a time, in the current climate, when companies are built and held together less on a promise and more on the basis of a mission, an idea, a shared commitment, the truth is a powerful weapon; the truth of a company's goals and its performance, the truth of an employee's role and opportunity and the truth of circumstances and market shifts that affect it all.

It is this last - the truth of what's changed - that most tests the persistent commitment to sharing enough to keep people's trust.

The best intentions can be undone by the questions raised by the grind of the day-to-day. A valuable colleague may leave to take another job ("What does he know that I don't?"), a client can take its business elsewhere ("How safe is my job?"), a competitor may draw the spotlight of publicity ("When are we going to be showcased?") and the pace -- of growth, success, public notice, internal communication -- may become uneven ("What are they not telling us?").

In each instance, it is a test of leadership to anticipate (and therefore prevent) or diagnose (and therefore cure) any problems undermining the health of the corporation, and health is a measure of trust.

What is also persistently true is that whether the news is good or not, it needs to be said. In politics, the prize often goes to those who speak truth to power. In business, the truth needs to be told to all. For some, this is too high a bar to clear. For the rest, the shield of trust that results is worth the risk of bad news.

It is the only hope that success will be true for more than a moment.