“Honesty is the best policy”. It may be a cliché, but the reasoning behind it is simple. We show our honour to others through being honest; meanwhile, authenticity is a characteristic of the soul, an inner testimonial to our honesty. The link between honesty and authenticity is conscience: a filter of our perceptions and a compass of our values.
In action, honesty is the foundation of successful, fair and effective communication between leaders and their teams, between leaders and the wider society, and ultimately between leaders and their conscience. Dishonest leaders lose credibility in the long run, both in their conscience, and in the collective memory of the team.