As children, even as young adults, we find ourselves telling little white lies to get out of trouble.
As adults, some of us find themselves telling little white lies, from our personal to our working lives.
In the corporate world managers, to co-workers will use those little white lies for one reason or another. Often those little white lies must be repeated multiple times. It is very possible these little white lies can come back and bite you. If this happens your credibility will plummet, people will not trust you and you will be considered a person without integrity.
Most often people want to believe you or voluntarily look the other way. But if your lies affect an employee in a very negative way. You could be faced to justify yourself and labeled as liar; do you really want to pursue this type of behavior?
Little white lies can become a guilty pleasure that is hard to stop. If you get away with one, the temptation is greater to repeat with a new one. It can become a game; how far can you play this game without getting caught? Sometimes the driver of these little white lies is to be acknowledged by your peers, viewed as a driving force or a go getter.
One of the biggest challenge of telling little white lies or any lies is to remember them accurately. I have heard individuals telling little white lies to so many people with so many variations in their stories that it could make your head spin. If you know any detectives or watch any detective shows they will tell you they catch a perpetrator who lies, because liars cannot remember their original story.
In the corporate world some people think that it may be useful at times to tell them.
Climbing the corporate world can be extremely tricky, “massaging” data to show you have make your goals, finding excuses for your shortcomings by point fingers at others. Telling upper management everything is on track when, in fact, it is the opposite. Most often you will be perceived as not trustworthy when you are caught in a lie.
Let’s not forget the person who applies for a job, knowing they are not qualified for that position. During their interview they make sure they can talk themselves into several white lies that make them appear, to the hiring manager, they are the right person for the job. When the time comes for them to performed they find themselves building bigger lies to justify why they cannot get their job done.
We also have the “smooth talkers” who have the gift to manage getting out of trouble. Their expertise using the information to their advantage by making themselves to be the hero in their stories. They love modifying facts, and they do such a great job that a lot of people believe them. Believe it or not, managers and CEO’s can be convinced into believing some of these types of individuals
You can start little white lies thinking there is no harms done. In the long run you are putting yourself in a predicament that sooner or later you could be exposed. Is this worth the fall from grace.
What little white lie have you told today?