The case for the occasional white lie at work

Not every harsh truth helps people grow. Smart leaders know how to protect their team without sacrificing trust.

Let’s say you and your team are struggling with an assignment for a client who’s notoriously difficult to work with. Even though your team is doing great work, the client lodges an unfair complaint against your star team member. At the end of the assignment, the team member asks for feedback, and you respond, “The client was satisfied with the end product.”