October 31, 2022 | Read Online

'You Can't Handle the Truth'

Being willing to confront players, assistant coaches or anyone we lead is essential to the leader's toolbox.

It's one of the most epic movie scenes of all time. When we hear "handling the truth," we immediately think of Col. Nathan R. Jessup on the courtroom witness stand, wearing his perfectly pressed medal-infested uniform.

The camera cuts close to his mouth so we can visually see his anger as he answers question after question. Everyone imitates the words from actors Jack Nicholson's mouth:

"You can't handle the truth."

The powerful dialogue was written in 1988 by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, first developed as a play, then the movie "A Few Good Men." Thirty-four years later, Sorkin is still correct in his belief that most people cannot handle or even want the truth.

The absence of truth, honesty and detailed criticism runs rampant today. Yes, we have Twitter to allow everyone to voice opinions, criticize and vent. But confusing Twitter with honesty, well-informed criticism or truth is a huge mistake.

Green Bay Packers future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers said last week about his team's poor start: "People in this society have a hard time hearing the truth."

Many might criticize Rodgers for stepping outside his player boundaries and acting as a coach. But his words reveal the inner workings of the Packers and most of the coaching profession dealing with the modern athlete. Since players run from hearing the truth, coaches shy away from confrontation. They shy away from being truthful, hoping to find other ways to direct their messaging.

Will this work? Despite the so-called modern athletes, it has never worked before and will never work today.

Being willing to confront players, assistant coaches or anyone we lead is essential to the leader's toolbox. Not confronting players when they make mistakes or missed assignments would be like a carpenter not bringing his hammer to work. Ignoring problems creates more problems, and those problems cause changes before too long.

When the leader isn't committed daily to being truthful and assigning accountability to those he/she leads, there becomes a void of leadership, and the team becomes fractured.

Packers Coach Matt LaFleur can disagree with Rodgers, he can be angry with him for airing the team's problems, but he needs to understand Rodgers is begging him to hold those accountable, including himself.

No leader wants to throw anyone under the bus or assign blame publicly. But privately is a different story. When continued mistakes don't carry consequences, the leader isn't willing to be truthful.

The absence of accountability and truth implies the leader is either coaching it or allowing it to happen. Then internal problems occur, and others feel the need to lead.

Handling the truth is the course any leader must take — even if others can't handle it.

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