Honesty Triumphs All

As of this writing we have a little over 24 hours remaining in President Bush's administration. A great deal, of course, has been and will continue to be written about him, much of it critical.
One of the often repeated criticisms has revolved his skills as a communicator. In fact, it has often been the subject of many jokes and ridicule. Rightfully so, I might add. A person with his level of education and that rises to the station of life that he has should be able to turn a phrase better than Bush; should be more sensitive to the rules of grammar. Is that, then, why in most circles our 43rd president has been judged to be a poor communicator? No.

None of us speaks perfectly all the time. Even, dare I say it, soon-to-be president Obama trips over an incorrect verb tense from time to time. Nevertheless, the great majority of people consider him to be a solid communicator. At this point in the lives of these two men, to steal from Highlights magazine, the reason one is considered a Goofus as a communicator and the other is more of a Gallant is summed up in one word: honesty. One is viewed as honest and the other isn't. In his eight years as president, Bush simply told far too much lies. In my view, people finally caught on to his scam years ago. Consequently, as his tenure president draws to a close, he has no credibility. Without that, it matters not how articulate a person might be. If your audience does not believe much if anything you say, then your ability to communicate is gone.

It is not my purpose in this entry to pick on Bush, though given the many problems he has dropped in Obama's lap, can anyone blame me? Rather, I view Bush as a perfect example of why honesty is oxygen to any and all of us who communicate under any circumstance and to any size audience. Without it, communicate dies along with any kind of connection or relationship. If one is deemed to be a teller of truth, then that person will be listened to. They may not be agreed with or followed, but they will be heard out. Communication comes in many forms, including advertising, marketing, speech making, and deed. Slickness does not replace honesty. It is simply irreplaceable when it comes to communication.