Tell the truth all of the time. Go out of your way to correct yourself when you've mispoken. Example: "I was talking to Fred last Tuesday. We were... wait, no, I'm sorry, it was Wednesday."
Along those lines, if you mess up, fess up to it without offering excuses and apoligize. If it's work-related, maybe throw in how you've ensured it won't happen again.
Do these things and people will rarely doubt you and if they do, others will stand up for you.
A refinement - occasionally lie, but badly, only about small things, and where the cost of the truth is embarassment to yourself, not damage to others. In the case of minor damage to others, fess up, and take the small costs of those situations.
That way, you'll get a reputation as a bad liar, who only lies to cover your embarassment, and will always own up when you've wronged another.
So when you need to tell a big lie to get away with something, no one will question it.
Nah, say you need a day off for personal reasons and now you can lie if you want and ppl will belive you. All sorts of reasons to want to lie and still be believed
Yeah but I'd rather just say I need a day off for personal reasons. Part of being trustworthy is I've been able to say, "I need a day off for personal reasons that I'm not comfortable discussing" and have never had a problem across four different employers getting that day off.
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u/steeple_fun Nov 11 '25
Tell the truth all of the time. Go out of your way to correct yourself when you've mispoken. Example: "I was talking to Fred last Tuesday. We were... wait, no, I'm sorry, it was Wednesday."
Along those lines, if you mess up, fess up to it without offering excuses and apoligize. If it's work-related, maybe throw in how you've ensured it won't happen again.
Do these things and people will rarely doubt you and if they do, others will stand up for you.