There are times when you will be in emotionally intense situations and you will have to make a choice whether or not to be honest with the other person or about another person.

If you are honest, you could hurt another person’s feelings, you could signficantly damage your relationship with that person, you could cause the person to lose his or her job, or you might help the person learn how to be more effective in the future.

In moments like these you learn a great deal about yourself. I encourage you to give yourself enough time and space to get your emotions under control, to think through what you will say, and then to step forward in an honest manner. At the end of the day you need to be able to sleep at night. If you are being honest with the hope of helping the organization and helping people in the organization and possibly helping the person you are being honest with or about, then I believe you will be able to respect yourself the next day.