17th century wisdom that’s even more true in the 21st
This time around, our Crisis Management Quotable comes to us courtesy of a 17th century Spaniard who wore many hats, from scholar and philosopher to army chaplain.
A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity. — Baltasar Gracián
The meaning behind this quotable is pretty clear – it only takes one lie to destroy shred the faith of your stakeholders to bits. It might be the first one you tell, or you could go for years, but eventually lying WILL cost you. This is more true today than ever before due to the fact that there are legions of professional reporters and millions of amateur “e-reporters” out there actively searching for information to share, meaning news of your deceitful behavior is all but guaranteed to travel and magnify via the web.
We understand that, when something you’re not proud of happens, you want to hide it. Fight the urge, because we can tell you from experience that the pain of fessing up is far less, and shorter lasting, than what you’ll face if you’re caught in a lie.
Erik Bernstein
Social Media Manager
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com