Truth and Honesty  

We always demand the truth because it makes us feel comfortable and at peace. Honesty in admitting to even the most unpleasant of actions carries the opportunity for respect and compassion, as well as personal growth and improved self esteem.

If our quest and purpose is to investigate and experience everything life has to offer to gain knowledge then only the truth is acceptable, and even the smallest of distortions does not fulfil this most basic of needs deep within us. Our judicial system is the most powerful organisation we as a society have developed, and is based upon judgements made after establishing the truth. Any attempt to hide or in any other way interfere with this process carries severe penalties.

There are times when the process falters through human failing and results in miscarriages of justice. The primary consideration with this aspect of human endeavour to my mind however, is our overwhelming desire to follow universal dictates in placing our search for truth and honesty above all else in human interaction.

I would like to share the following story with you to identify the deep seated, beneficial and supportive qualities of why truth is so much a part of the human condition.

One day the son of a neighbour of mine was on his mobile phone whilst I was cleaning my car. I had a lot of time for the boy who was working his way through college and already showed considerable business acumen. The conversation I overheard went as follows.

“Hello. Is that Mrs Morris?” he began, then “Hello Mrs Morris, my name is Bernie South and I am a gardener. I have to tell you that I regularly walk past your garden, and every time I do I think to myself - wow, I would really like to look after that garden.”

“Oh, you already have someone looking after the garden. I see. Well Mrs Morris I do a very caring job of work and tidy up afterwards. I can get lots of references for you to look at.”

“You’re very happy with who you’ve got at present. Well let me tell you Mrs Morris that I would be happy to work your garden for free one day, just so you could see how good I am.”

“You’re not interested. OK Mrs Morris, I won’t take up any more of your time now but may I call you in six months to see if you are still as happy, because I really want to look after your garden?”

“I can. Thank you very much for your time. Have a nice day” And with that he put his phone away.

I called out to him. “Well done Bernie. That was a good pitch. You did all the right things. You weren’t too direct, you showed her you were listening to what she had to say and you have kept the door open for another approach. I’m only sorry you lost the sale today.”

The lad looked up at me with a wry smile on his face and said, “I didn’t lose the sale John, I was checking up on myself!”

The point behind this story was that in him trying to “steal” one of his own clients he could not fudge the outcome of his actions or deny the results. If Mrs Morris asked him to call he was not doing an adequate job in looking after her garden. If, as was the case, he was doing a sound job she turned this approach away and he kept his client. The information he got from that exercise contained no grey areas - only the Truth!

How many of us have the courage to be that truthful or honest in our day to day activities and like Bernie, take direct responsibility for, and question our actions?

When I first started in the City I was introduced to the Lloyds Underwriting “Room” where, as today, vast amounts of money were transacted in the provision of Insurance protection. Often this worthy establishment will accept a risk that has not been considered before and was always the first port of call for unusual undertakings.

Business was conducted by word of mouth and personal bond. When you shook hands on a deal that was it. Trust was the cornerstone of how the market worked and profits were made without the employment of legions of lawyers and forests of paper.

 It was a “club” where you were accepted into an environment of trust and earned a good living from it. If you abused the trust that was built through the application of truthful and honest business practice, you were expelled from a very simple and lucrative business environment and could never return.

Respect was implicit within the workings of that market and tension was confined to the insurance risks taken, not the people you were dealing with. I cannot see respect operating in today’s intense business climate and it is the poorer for it, both in financial costs as well as the quality of human integrity, which develops people as well as profits.

Finally and tragically, the death of Princess Diana in a high speed car chase was the result of a culmination of circumstances prevalent in our society today. Photographers driven by the lure of huge fees were aggressively seeking pictures of her. Newspapers were eager to print these photos because they were guaranteed a readership whose thirst for such material was proving insatiable. This in turn made the papers large amounts of money from advertisers eager to get to the readers.

The similarities between the relentless chase after this beautiful woman and foxhunting seems a little too close for comfort. Hypocrisy dictates that we condemn one and allow the other to flourish unabated - a classic need for honesty and truth.

I believe that when we are able to accept our collective part in her death we will then want to seek beliefs that help to moderate our excesses. Maybe the huge outpouring of grief at the time was a subconscious display of that acceptance and desire.

What is worryingly evident now is that the circumstances which eventually led to Diana’s death have again been played out when her eldest son William was going out with the beautiful Kate Middleton, as she too was relentlessly hounded by the world’s press.

In our lust for personal gratification, be it from power or money, the inability to assume responsibility for how we treat each other and manage our surroundings will eventually result in our own destruction. The tsunamis, hurricanes and other planetary “vibrations” are getting worse not better, as we continue to rape the planet and each other in our blind rush to financial nirvana.

If we truly want a world in which we can be peaceful and happy and where our children have a future, then our present unique position in time, and the threat of global warming, dictates that we be courageous and act. Never before in our history has there been such a time, opportunity and ability through modern communication, to provide the motivation and wherewithal to improve the manner in which we interact.

If we don’t question our values and the way we do things now by accepting that we need to change our mindset, history will again be repeated and surely then we will truly know the value of Truth & Honesty.

Copyright 2007 John Coombes