I was training my new American student, a lady who owns two big flower shops in Arkansas. After I ended my session and closed my laptop, I reopened it and started writing today’s blog. The session I just did resonated deeply with the blog I'm writing. It is an excerpt from my own experiences of running businesses and leadership roles for almost two decades.

It is based on the companies I own, having helped run other companies as a CEO and executive leader, and especially on the countless other businesses of my mentees, whom I have mentored through my business mentorship programs over the last few years. So, I am going to speak clarified truths as I always deliver, rooted in awareness-based leadership.

People love saying,
“I only want the truth.”

Or, “Whatever you are saying will benefit me.”

These dialogues are the most common ones I have been hearing for many years in business leadership and mentorship conversations. People say these words without full truth rising within, or just for the sake of saying them. They don’t mean it at all.

This is a blunt lie.

People want truth only when it provides comfort that feels like truth, and they reject truth when it disrupts their self-image and ego in leadership. I hope you understand what I mean.

This confusion between bad truths and good lies in business is the reason:

1. Relationships collapse nowadays

2. Businesses rot from inside

3. Big leaders lose credibility

4. Spiritual seekers stagnate for decades

Let me clear the confusion and illustrate.

What Is a Bad Truth in Business Leadership?

A bad truth is not false. It is pure truth delivered without awareness, timing, or responsibility. Most people cannot digest it, especially in business communication and leadership environments.

People often listen to truth only to:

• Measure how exposed they are

• Prove intellectual superiority

• Check whether it fits their own self-image as leaders or decision-makers

A bad truth is true information spoken without emotional intelligence.

For example:

1. Brutal honesty used to dominate someone — this is destructive leadership behavior.

2. Facts spoken without emotional intelligence — they hurt the listener immediately.

3. Truth used as a weapon instead of a lamp — it kills confidence and morale.

Bad truth sounds like:

• “I’m just being honest” (while enjoying the damage)

• “This is the reality, deal with it” (without offering growth or solutions)

• “Truth hurts” (said with hidden ego)

So, bad truth inflates the speaker and shrinks the listener.
That is not wisdom. That is unconscious leadership.

What Is a Good Lie in Business and Mentorship?

A good lie is not always deception. It is often partial truth or delayed truth, used to protect the process of growth.

Many business people prefer good lies because they temporarily:

• Boost ego. I see all the times.

• Protect insecurities

• Avoid responsibility. I even seen it with my mentees who invested money to get my business coaching and still avoids which are needed and expected to be done.

For example:

1. “I know what is happening is bad, but I am stuck and perhaps it is my bad luck” — used to hide weakness and gain sympathy.

2. “You’re doing fine, keep going” — when refinement will come later through mentorship and leadership training.

3. “Focus on this first” — instead of overwhelming the person with everything.

4. “You’ll understand this with time” — because they genuinely will.

A good lie protects the process, not the ego.

“Na buddhi-bhedaṁ janayed ajñānāṁ karma-saṅginām”
— Bhagavad Gītā 3.26

Do not disturb the minds of the unprepared.

This verse clearly explains why truth must be calibrated in leadership, business, and spiritual instruction. It destroys the childish idea that truth must always be spoken fully.

Business Reality: Why Full Truth Kills Teams

A leader who dumps full truth on employees without awareness-based leadership calibration:

1. Creates fear

2. Destroys morale

3. Loses loyalty

A leader who tells only sweet lies:

1. Creates incompetence

2. Breeds entitlement

3. Builds weak systems

Real leadership is truth dosage.

So instead, you give:

1. 30% truth to beginners

2. 60% truth to capable performers

3. 90% truth to mature leaders

Anyone demanding 100% truth at all times is:

1. Immature

2. Dangerous

3. Or performing moral theatre

Only a very mature person can digest truth. You don’t get them very often.

People struggle in business because truth is spoken or heard without clarity and awareness. Senior businesspeople who once performed well often degrade financially because they fail to adapt to changing business realities.

Adaptability and adoptability are both truths in business leadership, yet people cling to outdated models.

I once mentored an experienced businessman with multiple shops in Kolkata AC Market, a renowned cloth trading hub. He failed to accept that customers had shifted to Park Street Ram Mandir area, where newer collections and designs were demanded by younger generations.

Staying in a famous place that is losing relevance is not always wise in business. You move. That is strategic leadership.

In Gulf countries, my mentees regularly invite Americans to exchange new business ideas and leadership models. This is a subtle yet powerful investment strategy. Excellence costs, but conscious businesses pay the price.

The Hard Truth People Don’t Want to Hear

Most people:

1. Are not ready for the truth they demand

2. Use “honesty” to avoid responsibility

3. Want transparency only when it benefits them

Most damage in life and business is done not by lies,
but by truth spoken by unconscious mouths.

I will stop here. This subject takes hours of mentorship sessions to explain even to seasoned business leaders.

It is your choice how you live your life and what significance truth or lies hold for you. However, real opulence comes from clarity, awareness, and conscious leadership, opening another dimension of success in today’s business world.

jai Sri Hari

Deb OM Malya