This month’s theme is the importance of reputation & trust – a critical element so often missing across a range of people interactions and relationships. And while trust is a key factor in building productive relationships in any context, it’s essential for the highest level of leadership and teamwork effectiveness. Growing cynicism by the electorate of political leaders seemingly prevails however, with trust increasingly depleted.
Feelings of trust mean having confidence, belief and reliance on others’ truthfulness, openness and honesty, reliability and good judgement. And however unwelcome, disagreeable, or inconvenient telling the truth may be, being trusted also means expressing honest facts and opinions with carefully considered words and phrases.. The following quotes from politicians of note:
It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
‘The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.’
JOHN F KENNEDY
The above listed on: CHARACTER – EQ4U
For a thought on political leadership integrity, Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘7 Sins’ quote also springs to mind: ‘There are seven sins in the world: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.’
GRAMMAR/COMMUNICATION NOTES
Expressing double negatives when intending to be positive is a common communication error, which forgets the rule that 2 negatives make a positive. A double negative is when two negative expressions are used in the same sentence. For instance:
“I can’t think of nothing”, which actually means “I can’t think of anything”
“I didn’t seen nothing”, which actually means “I did see something”.
“I don’t have no money”, which actually means “I do have money”.
Not every double negative is however an error, and may be expressed to convey sensitivity or diplomacy, such as: “I wouldn’t describe you as unintelligent”.
For further information: Double Negative: Explanation and Examples
Understanding Double Negatives (Rules + Examples) | GrammarBrain
Warmest & best wishes
