Can You Handle The Truth?

Not like the movie A Few Good Men, but can you handle hearing the truth?

Do you absorb it? Do you ponder/consider it?

Or, do you reject it, get defensive, or get offended?

I think this quote sums most people's reactions when they hear the truth:

I believe that hearing the truth - whether it's bad news at your company or how your partner feels about something you do or say, or what your child feels about your parenting skills - is so rare that it's almost a GIFT when you hear it.

As this quote says "Truth - more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality - is the essential foundation for producing good outcomes."

You have nothing to fear from hearing the truth!

At A & A Customs Brokers, we do eNPS surveys, we watch our Indeed & Glassdoor surveys, we do NPS surveys - and it's ALL an exercise in uncovering the TRUTH. Of what people think, how our company really is, how our customers really feel.

Hearing someone's truth is such a gift because you are able to listen, understand, connect dots, investigate, confirm, and most of all IMPROVE!

We read a book called Simply Better as part of our Book of the Quarter and in that book, it talked about businesses getting the very basics right to be better than their competitors. People aren't often looking for something revolutionary - they are looking for things to just be better.

You can't get better without knowing the truth.

If someone gets defensive when they are told the truth, their likelihood of hearing the truth again from that person is very slim.

When you get the truth, or even if you don't think it's true and it's someone's opinion of the truth - consider it, let it soak in, pause, and think about it.

EVEN if there is no merit, or that 'truth' isn't something you believe is true - you still have a golden opportunity to listen, understand, digest and move forward.

The above quote is great because even though many people are well-meaning with the truth or criticism, there is also the self-interested critic that isn't really interesting in your improvement - they are just naysayers. You can ignore them of course, but you can still listen, not get defensive, and be grateful to have heard it.

Jeff Bezos does a good delineation of the 2 kinds of critics:

Lastly - once you hear the truth, and you accept it as truth, and perhaps something you can improve on - you must ACT!

If you get an employee or customer review, and they have gifted you with the truth (which can be brave), and you agree that it is true - then you must act to make it better.

Otherwise, you can be labeled an "Askhole" - someone who asks for advice or the truth - but doesn't do anything about it to change or get better.

Cherish people who tell you the truth, and you will get more of it, and you can get better and better and better.