Golden Locks with a Golden Tongue?

Part 1… Four young men went out on the town high from an Olympic gold medal win and lots of alcohol. These men used poor judgement. But one of these men turned that poor decision into an international controversy. The story about the American swimmers being robbed at gun point while bar hopping created an international incident. Ryan Lochte, 32, went public with what he now admits was an exaggerated story that grabbed world sympathy. By now you have heard the news regarding both sides of the arguments that go like this; “he said this,” “they did this,” “they said that,” “the guard wanted money,” and, “oh yah, I’m very sorry.” You can make your own decision on all the statements being brought forth and who you choose to believe. My questions are; 1. What makes a 32-year-old man to lie to such a large audience? 2. Is it because he doesn’t he know that lying is wrong or is it because he thinks he can get away with the lie? 3. Does he believe his status as an Olympic swimmer and television star will protect him? 4. Does his lies have anything to do with the hope of not lossing endorsements and money? There are many questions and heavy content in this post. This week I will look at the culture around lying and next week I will follow up with the last two questions. Who knows maybe a few new revelations will appear in the news during the next seven days. Why does an adult man lie to international media? Lochte, at the age of 32, knows the difference between lies and truth. Experts report that by the age of six years old children can tell the difference between truths and lies.(Bussey, 1999) These truths and lies are very basic and as different as black is white. They are as easy to understand as the statement, “the sun shines in the day time.”. Dr. Bussey’s study also found by age 13 most children with normal intellect can work through complex information to determine truths from lies. It is widely accepted that lying is tied to self-esteem and our sense of self-worth. When an individual’s self-esteem is threatened they may lie at higher levels. A higher level of lying can be defined as being very abstract when answering questions. We are not so worried about impressing other people, we just want the other’s view of us to be consistent with what they already believe us to be. (Lloyd, 2006) By the way, the good doctor reports that extroverts lie more often than introverts. Lochte and three team members had won the gold that day in the Rio Olympics giving Ryan Lochte  12th gold medal. Quite an accomplishment to you and I but Ryan may see things differently. Since 2004 Ryan Lochte has been the second best swimmer behind Michael Phelps. Year after year Phelps wins individual and team golds while Lochte has missed many individual golds. The last item that I should note from Robin Lloyd’s article is that we are so worried about how we are seen by others that we ourselves often can’t tell the difference between the truth and lies. Is this your culture at work or in business? I’d love to hear from you. Stay safe my friends Kathryn