The Bailey Blog

Mark Twain once said, “If you tell the truth, you do not have to remember anything.” Mr. Twain’s rule still applies even though he never lived to witness text messaging. Because today, if you send a text message, you don’t have to remember anything either, since it automatically becomes a matter of record.

Simply put, the concept of telling the truth remains something that we must all adhere to – before we do or say something we might feel sorry for. When in doubt, don’t do it. If you do, you are not being honest with your commitment to yourself or your family.

I have three questions that I ask myself to decide whether I am being honest and ethical.

1. Would I be happy if what I just did, or was about to do, appeared on the front page of the newspaper in the morning?

3. What would my mother say if I told her what I did or was about to do?

Another rule that is always appropriate is: The Golden Rule. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It comes down to this: There is no substitute for truth and honesty. You can text that with confidence and know it will last forever.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Corporate Communications, Crisis Communications, General, Media Relations, Public Affairs, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.