Show Notes

I knew kids in high school and college who cheated. They stole exams or looked at other people's answers or had someone else take tests for them. (Ironically, grammar school was far more honest!) My daughter had a friend whom she abandoned because of her chronic cheating and requests to help her out. She even cheated at sports unless the officials caught her.

When you're successful, of course, you don't stop, and she tried cheating in college and got herself tossed out. I'd bet she's in a blue collar job today and stealing from her employer.

People asked me to help them cheat and even offered money to me to write a paper or sit in such a way where they could see my answers. I never acquiesced, and there were two quite simple reasons. First, it makes it harder for all the honest kids to stand out, and second, I really don't want someone doing my taxes, or selling my house, or operating on an abscess who cheated to get to those positions.

I remember a guy called in by auto shops who would “prove” that the car you wanted to trade in had been in an accident and repaired, hence lowering it's value. I assume he was one of the cheaters who was now making it his life's work.

A doctor and bank board member cheated when he sold his house to us in Summit, New Jersey, by removing the lighting that would have shown a rusting furnace, then paying off the inspection guy to overlook it. So I turned down his bank for my loan.

Chronic cheating is a disease, a personality disorder. Like smoking or certain drugs, which can addict you, cheating can dominate your life because, unfortunately, the more you get away with it, the more you think you're great at it, and the more you do it—until ultimately caught, sooner or later. You know all those college deans and politicians who, inexplicably, had lies on their current resumes and were cashiered? They had gotten away with it for so long that they began to believe it was the truth. “Yes, I went to Oxford, and yes, I was awarded a Silver Star.”

You know this Senator, Bob Menendez, convicted of fraud and political corruption (along with his wife). He pleaded for leniency in front of the judge and then walked a few yards over to the press and complained how unfair the judge was. I knew him when he was elected as a “reform” mayor at 20 in Union City, New Jersey.

He exhibited then and since the same behaviors that have thrown him into jail now. The more powerful the person, the larger the lies.

Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.

Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken