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We live in a competitive world. A world in which slander and backlash are seen as truth.

To test this theory, I was recently talking with a client. In the middle of our conversation, I told him that one of the leaders at my company was having multiple affairs within my company. I said I didn&rsquo;t want to go into the details, but that at some point I wanted to gain some advice on how to handle the situation. We continued the other conversation for a while and then he circled back to my challenge, saying he wanted to know more.

I told him I made it up.

I told him that&rsquo;s all it took for him to believe that what I was saying was true. Why? He sees me as authoritative and presumably honest. Yet, I could easily shift his mind into believing something that wasn&rsquo;t true in the least bit. In fact, had I told that to him and he told it to one more person &ndash; the word-of-mouth drama would spread.

That&rsquo;s how easy it is to make a lie seem like the truth. In today&rsquo;s world where humans are the authorities and spreaders of news, it&rsquo;s very easy to create a reality. Perception is reality.

In some businesses, brands play fairly. They let their products do the talking. In other industries, slander is the easiest pathway to a perception of winning.

My hope is that people are smarter than that. That the majority of people won&rsquo;t believe the bully.

In business, though, if you can&rsquo;t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. No business&rsquo;s pathway is easy. Turbulence that doesn&rsquo;t kill a business only makes it stronger.

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