Everyone says truth matters – yet leaders speaking it clearly and fully is rarer than ever. Why is that so, and how do we fix it? Edelman’s 2026 Trust Barometer shows we are plumbing new depths of a trust crisis. Whilst the last 12 months saw some paltry gains in some trust measures, across the board trust in institutions, business, media and leaders both social and political is at near historic lows.
I think this crisis of trust is really a product of a crisis of truth. In the UK, for instance, just 9% of people trust politicians to tell the truth (a new low since measures began in 1983). Despite near universal recognition that truth is important and more than two thirds of companies having words like “honesty” and “truthfulness” in their values statements, less than 19% of staff trust their corporate leaders to tell the truth. The World Economic Forum now places misinformation at the top of its list of short-term global risks.
If we want to restore trust – regain the trust of our teams, our customers, our investors and our communities – it starts with being more honest. The good news is, we’re not just doing it for fun. Truth doesn’t only build trust, it increases innovation, engages staff, and drives performance. And it starts with leaders.
Why truth matters
On April 11th, the Artemis shuttle splashed back to Earth after a record-breaking trip to the moon. The journey is a beautiful illustration of why truth matters: real-world problems require real-world solutions. When it comes to putting people on the moon, the facts are all that matter. You can’t “position” or “spin” your way into orbit any more than you can “opinion” your way to solving a maths problem. It’s like when CHOICE ran an investigation that found only 4 out of 20 tested sunscreens met the SPF rating they claimed on the label: you can’t “vibes” your way to sun protection, it either works or it doesn’t.
In business, leaders are doing our version of “putting people on the moon” every day. I mean this insofar as every day we are faced with real-world problems that have right and wrong answers. Questions like: How do we attract new customers? How do we improve our product? How do we decarbonise? How do I engage my team? Sure, there may be multiple right answers to these questions – but there are also plenty of wrong ones. As with astrophysics, mathematics and sunscreen, when it comes to solving these problems, our solutions either work or they won’t.
This is not to say opinions, beliefs and feelings don’t matter – of course, they do. But in matters of the real world, these opinions, beliefs and feelings will also turn out to be either right or wrong. In other words, a leader’s ability to navigate through what is right and wrong, or true and false, underpins more than anything else their capacity to solve their most pressing problems. In other words, a healthier relationship with the truth has significant, material benefits for individual and collective performance.
Where to start?
I think it’s useful to draw a distinction between three types of truth leaders encounter every day. The first is “them truth” – the truth that we discuss about everyone “out there”, in the world outside ourselves and our in-group. Basically, everything we say about everyone who is not in the room. For most teams, common “them truth” conversations are often about the Board, shareholders or investors, customers, regulators or competitors.
Then there is “we truth” – the conversations we have with ourselves as a team, about ourselves as a team. The culture review that we publicly released when I was a Partner at EY is a great example of this – a public disclosure and discussion about the facts of working at EY.
The third is “me truth”. This is the truth that we are willing to disclose and discuss about ourselves as individuals. A vivid example of a “we truth” conversation is a colleague of mine who got damning 360o feedback and decided to sit in front of the entire company and share it openly and fully. Most people bury that sort of truth in a drawer – he decided instead to share it transparently – to tremendous effect, as I’ve written about elsewhere.
All three types of truth – them, we and me – matter in an organisation. We need to be able to talk truthfully about the market, consumers, technology and the direction of the world around us (“them truth”), our approach, culture and performance (“we truth”), and our impact as an individual leader (“me truth”). We can’t afford to go without any of these three types of truth.
But I urge leaders to start with “me truth”. I’ve sat in plenty of rooms where leaders were comfortable talking about “them” or “we” truth. I’ve sat in far fewer where the microscope could be turned directly inwards such that people could ask, “what if I am the problem?”, or “what am I doing that needs to change?”. When it comes to making truth happen, starting with “me truth” is a great way to go first, role model the act of making truth happen, and create safety for others to follow.
