Behind every leadership problem is the “lie.” There is always the lie that we have told ourselves and have bought into. We do not think of it as a lie, but it is a piece of self-deception that keeps us from being able to see the real obstacle, timeline and opportunity (see Sir Walter Ralegh’s “The Lie“). If we begin to solve our problem by searching for the lie, we can save ourselves untold amounts of delay and grief. The leader’s first responsibility is to face the lie.