How often have we heard it spouted from the front of the room?

"Fake it till you make it."

Over the last 15 years, I've known countless guys who, upon hearing this mantra, have begged, borrowed and stolen money to buy their Armani suits, shoes and belts (whose expensive buckles they are often seen fondling in front of the room).

Some have bought cars totally outside their budgets so they could be seen arriving in style. And of course, they imply clearly that these wonderful toys were the fruits of the business they were promoting.

Has this mantra gone too far?

It's one thing to do whatever you have to so that YOU feel good (and if buying that Armani suit, shoes or belt does it, well then do it.)

But if it's all borrowed money that bought it, or if it came from another source, and NOT from the business you are promoting, is it right to pretend these success symbols came from your business? You know, so as to entice folks to come into the business with you?

Isn't that false pretenses?

In a previous post here, ("Don't Believe the Hype (He Says That's What It Is)" May 28, I reported what a well known entertainment promoter said in his deposition (he was being sued by the people who bought his company based on his misrepresentations).

Mr. Simmons wanted to give a good impression to those who were about to put up their money and time to buy his company, so he wanted the business to "look good" to them.

"Here's how you develop an image for a company," he says in the deposition. "You give out false statements to mislead the public so they will then increase in their mind the value of your company." He explained the difference between his statement on CNBC that his company had done $350 million in sales when in fact it had done $14.3 million like this:

The $350 million "accurately reflected my optimism - or my brand position statement - a good brand positioning statement." And he adds, "I was hoping it would sound good - I was hoping that maybe by that year the gross numbers were there, I don't know."

Would you buy anything from this man?

Cut back to us in network marketing.

How would you feel about coming in to a business based on seeing such "success" flaunted as what they "got", and later find out they hadn't earned a dime - that the "success" they showed you was part of that person's "fake it till you make it" strategy? And you bought in, thinking that it would be easy, too, like it was for our faker?

Do you agree that we should dump the faker philosophy as a recruiting tool?

Perhaps women haven't used it as much as the boys, since they don't tend to brag. But if you do use it, I suggest wiping it from your speaking repertoire. Period.

Evolved males: Dump it.

It's just lying, isn't it? And worse, it's cruel and unusual seduction of some unsuspecting woman (or guy) who needs to believe in something real, and who doesn't have any way of knowing that your story is fake, until it's too late and they've spent their money - and usually more than they can afford.

Would YOU knowingly buy from a faker?

Is that any way to promote goodwill or good word of mouth in our industry?

We can do better, can't we?