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The difficulty of facing facts and finding common ground. Photothek via Getty Images From rewriting history to dismissing data, leaders who override facts may gain short-term comfort, but they always pay a steep price in trust and credibility. Leaders who fight reality always lose — the only question is when. History offers endless proof. Leaders may try to bend facts, rewrite history, or silence the messengers of truth, but reality never disappears. When ignored, it eventually breaks through — and often breaks the leader in the process. At the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, this pattern was on display. The exhibit on presidential impeachments once included references to Donald Trump’s two impeachments. Recently, it was changed to say that “only three presidents have seriously faced removal.” Trump was erased from the historical record — not because facts changed, but because reality became inconvenient. That erasure foreshadowed a broader move. In March 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14253, demanding that the Smithsonian and other institutions strip what he called “divisive ideology” from historical displays.. This was more than cosmetic. It was an attempt to rewrite public memory itself. Historically, authoritarian leaders have employed this pattern of presenting untruths as facts to bolster their power. The problem is, it never works for long. MORE FOR YOU Rhetoric vs. Reality Trump’s 2025 U.N. address offered another striking example. He declared that he had “ended seven unendable wars,” according to the official U.N. address transcript Fact-checkers swiftly debunked both claims, but on the world stage, the story carried more force than the evidence. Closer to home, he declared a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., federalizing the city’s police force and citing “skyrocketing violence.” Yet the data told a different story: crime rates were at near thirty-year lows, according to a FactCheck.org analysis In both cases, the rhetoric traveled faster and further than the facts. But when leaders use narrative to override evidence, they erode the one thing every leader depends on — trust. The Seductive Appeal of Narrative Why do leaders — in politics and business alike — risk so much by denying reality? Our brains are natural storytelling machines. We want our narratives to be true. When they’re not, we face a choice: humbly adjust our story or stubbornly reject the facts. For many, their egos direct them to choose rejection. In my work with executives, I refer to this as a “reality bypass”: leaders jumping from their interpretation straight to action, skipping the hard work of testing it against evidence, inviting and hearing other perspectives, and considering other options. One engineering executive told me his CEO repeatedly ignored physics data. Engineers recommended six connectors for safety; the CEO insisted four were enough, prioritizing cost savings. The leader’s arrogance was blinding, and the result was predictable: safety problems and the loss of top employees who refused to compromise with physics. Facts don’t bend. Physics didn’t change. Eventually this CEO lost some excellent talent. Why Smart Leaders Fall Into the Trap It’s tempting to believe only foolish leaders fall into this trap. In truth, even intelligent, accomplished leaders are vulnerable — not because they lack competence, but because of the environments they operate in: Echo chambers. Social media and information bubbles confirm existing beliefs, making inconvenient truths easier to ignore. Misinformation speed. MIT research shows false news spreads six times faster than truth and is 70% more likely to be shared. In that environment, leaders can always find “evidence” to support whatever story they prefer. Tribal loyalty. Whether in politics or corporate culture, loyalty to the boss or the team often overrides objectivity. Employees play follow-the-leader instead of surfacing conflicting data. Eroding trust. As confidence in institutions weakens — from government statistics to internal reporting systems — leaders substitute their preferred narrative for verified fact. These pressures make it dangerously easy for leaders to believe their own story and dismiss the facts. But reality waits patiently. Why Facts Matter As Yuval Noah Harari reminds us in Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, “Large numbers of strangers can cooperate successfully by believing in common myths.” Money and law are examples of such myths — but they only work when rooted in verifiable facts. A currency has value because we trust the economic data supporting it. Legal systems hold because we agree on the rule of law and evidence. Institutions succeed because we trust their commitment to gathering and testing information. When facts erode, so does cooperation. Societies begin to splinter into battles over “what’s true,” creating fertile ground for misinformation and authoritarian control. Leaders who try to fight reality eventually discover that the collapse of trust makes their own position untenable. Facing Reality: The Courageous Work of Leadership The leaders I admire most aren’t the ones who insist on their story at all costs. They’re the ones who hold their story lightly, with humility. They recognize their interpretation of events might be incomplete or wrong. That doesn’t make them weak. It makes them resilient. The courage to align with reality isn’t about surrendering authority—it’s about strengthening it. When leaders let facts, not ego, shape their choices, they build credibility that lasts. If you’re leading a team, a company, or a community, here’s how to stay grounded when reality tests your story: Invite the unwelcome data. Ask: What numbers or feedback are we avoiding because they make us uncomfortable? Create regular forums where inconvenient truths can surface without penalty. Test your narrative against facts. Map out the story you want to believe, then compare it to the evidence you have. Where are the gaps? What assumptions are driving your decisions? Build truth alliances. Encourage colleagues to challenge your thinking. Reward people who bring bad news early. When teams see you listen and adapt, trust grows. Act early on hard truths. The longer you postpone reality, the higher the cost. Small course corrections now prevent painful reckonings later. Reality always has the last word. Leaders who face it with humility earn trust and longevity. Those who fight it might win the moment, but they are minimizing their future success. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
