The Risk of Being Honest

"The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit." {Proverbs 18:21}

Successful people use their time wisely. Leaders choose their words wisely. And at the same time, the power of a leader is summed up in the value of his or her words. What you say is just as important as what the hearer thinks about the speaker. Many times we create opportunities for success simply by what we say or do not say. Presidents are elected by what they say. Coaches win championship by what they tell their players. Preachers of the Gospel depend on what is said to their partitioners. But the practice of using-words-wisely is not only for the leader-lead role only, its for every relationship in life.

It is in the simple relationships, the day to day interactions with strangers that give a leader the ability to lead. One must understand who they are leading before they and understand themselves as a leader. This is why honesty is not just a report of the truth but the totality of all the dynamics of a relationship experience without a predetermined outcome. In other words, being honest means taking the risk of sacrificing your own image for the sake of building up someone else and not worrying about how things will turn out.

Being honest is like shooting a bow and arrow. You have to be patient and get close to your target and hold your position (which is most often the most painful part) until the right time and then you can let go...and there is silence until the impact. On the contrary, people make the mistake of believing that being honest is like a machine gun. Just shoot until hopefully you hit something. But usually you do more damage to everything around the target and make a whole lot of noise in the process letting everybody know what you are doing.

Being honest is risky. Leadership is risky. But a good shepherd is willing to give their life for the sheep.