Leadership Lessons from Confucius: honesty and trust

Zilu asked how to serve a ruler. Confucius said: “Don’t deceive them; be willing to oppose them.”
子路問「事君」。子曰：「勿欺也，而犯之。」

Honesty and trust are at the core of any meaningful relationship. The one between you and your boss is no exception. If you are not open and candid with them, they will soon lose their confidence in you. The last thing they want to hear are nasty surprises because you have kept them in the dark about unexpected problems with a client that you have been unable to handle or a slowdown in sales. Better to proactively voice your concerns rather than hope the problem will magically go away. The earlier you nip it in the bud, the easier it will be to solve it.

It is never easy to speak out when you think your boss is making a mistake, but if you feel strongly that they are moving in the wrong direction you have to summon up the courage to raise the red flag. They may not want to hear your opposition at the time, but they will come to thank you for it when they find out that you reasons are valid.

Notes
This article features a translation of Chapter 22 of Book 14 of the Analects of Confucius. You can read my full translation of Book 14 here.

(1) Confucius regarded honesty and trust as the bedrock of the relation between a ruler and his ministers. So much so that his own outspokenness probably cost him the chance of ever securing a high-level government position! See 14.7 for a similar comment: “Can you be truly loyal to someone if you refrain from admonishing them?”

I took this image at the Temple of the Duke of Zhou in Qufu. The duke was Confucius’s great hero and role model as a result of his tireless efforts to the establish the foundation of the fledgling kingdom of Zhou while acting as regent to his nephew, the young King Cheng.