We avoid them for a single reason. Everyone, in one way or another, is:

* Self-centered
* Selfish
* Greedy
* Materialistic
* Narcissistic

The problem is, these attributes are considered crimes of the heart. Deceits of the mind. So we all pretend they do not apply to us. It is a grand deception.

The truth lies in the lies.

Why is it important to air this dirty laundry? Because as friends, lovers, spouses, partners......and absolutely as businesspeople, we must deal with fact. We must understand not the myth but the reality. We are obliged, we are driven to peer beneath the veneer, to see what truly makes people tick. What moves and motivates them.

This is central to our own survival and to our ability to succeed in the jungle of commerce where the wise, the seers, peer through the politically correct, the denial, the misrepresentations, to divine the facts and, in turn, the most effective sources of the action.

As we work with others, as we seek to collaborate with them and motivate them and market to them, we must understand that living in a land of make-believe leads to dead ends and disappointments. Only by insisting on seeing through the fantasy of the pure and admitting the very nature of human behavior for what it is, can we navigate to real world goals and succeed.

People care about themselves, they want to be special, they crave compliments and rewards, they want to be the kings and queens of the hill. They know that when they win, others lose and they leave a trail of disappointment in their wake.

Businesspeople have no space for fantasy. They must create, team and sell based on reality. On the hard reality of what people really are and really want.

The truth lies in the lies.

Article by, Mark Stevens, the bestselling author of "Your Marketing Sucks," "Your Management Sucks" and"God Is A Salesman." Stevens is CEO of MSCO, a global marketing firm, who has advised many clients over the years such as Estee Lauder, Virgin Atlantic, Guardian Insurance, MONY, Giorgio Armani, Starwood, Intrawest, etc. Stevens delivers more than 40 speeches annually and is a regularly featured media commentator, lending his insights and opinions on Fox Business Network, to the Associated Press, on CNN International, BBC Radio and Bloomberg TV.