Eyepatches for All

The difference between reality and fiction? Fiction has to make sense. — Tom Clancy

Admiral Horatio Nelson, the British naval legend, never wore an eyepatch.

Yes, he was injured in the right eye during the siege of Calvi in 1794, and yes, he partially lost sight. But the eye wasn’t visibly disfigured, and Nelson didn’t cover it. And the dramatic black eyepatch you’ve seen in portraits? Pure invention. It was added in posthumous paintings not to reflect reality, but to dramatize it. To create a visual shorthand for bravery, pain, and leadership.

It’s a small lie. A flattering one. A historical Photoshop. A marketing decision.

And if you think we’ve moved beyond that in the business world, think again. Today, Nelson’s symbolic eyepatch lives on in corporate life. Just repackaged as vanity metrics, polished LinkedIn stories, inflated job titles, and selectively told success narratives.

Here are a few modern "eyepatches":

The “We’re Customer-Centric” Eyepatch – Airlines, Telcos, and More

"We put customers first!" says the website. Meanwhile, try canceling a flight or changing your internet plan. Automated phone mazes, chatbots that don’t understand your issue, and refund policies that require a legal degree.

The eyepatch: A mission statement that masks indifference.

The “We Care About Employees” Eyepatch – Tech Giants in Layoff Season

The company announces a record-breaking quarter. A week later, 10% of the workforce is laid off via email. The internal memo thanks them for their "contributions to the journey." There's a LinkedIn post about "difficult decisions" and "building a stronger future."

The eyepatch: Empathetic language to soften ruthless cuts.

The “We’re an AI Company Now” Eyepatch – Everyone in 2023

Remember when suddenly every startup had "AI" in its name or product description? Even those selling CRM systems or HR tools slapped on a chatbot and rebranded themselves as deep learning pioneers. Investors smiled. Press releases flew. Actual capabilities? Still catching up.

The eyepatch: A buzzword to inflate perceived value.

The “Technology Breakthrough” Eyepatch

Every company wants to be seen as a pioneer. The one with the technological leap that left all competitors in the dust. But what if that breakthrough doesn’t really exist? Easy. Fake it till you make it.

For years, startups demoed humanoid robots and self-driving vehicles that appeared to think and act on their own. They waved, dodged obstacles, and even held conversations. Impressive… until it turned out that many of these “intelligent” systems were being quietly operated by humans behind the scenes. In one notorious case, a delivery robot cruising down a sidewalk was actually being remotely controlled from a call center.

The eyepatch: A shiny illusion of autonomous tech to mask the very manual truth.

Why We Do It?

Let’s be honest: some amount of myth-making is strategic. Brands need stories. Leaders need credibility. Startups need to look promising. But when the gap between appearance and reality grows too wide, you’re not inspiring trust, you’re gambling with it.

Fake things may open doors, but only the truth keeps them open.

But not everyone wears eyepatches. There are companies that took it off (or never wore one). For example, when Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, transferred ownership of the company to a trust fighting climate change, it wasn’t just a PR move — it was the logical next step in a long pattern of value-driven decisions. For years, Patagonia has been transparent about its supply chain, its environmental footprint, and even the limits of what it can solve.

Their famous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign wasn’t ironic. It was honest. And it worked.

Or let’s take a look at LEGO. It has made several public pivots, and not all of them were smooth. When their partnership with Shell was criticized for greenwashing, they cut ties.  Most notably, in 2023, they openly admitted that their plan to replace all plastics with recycled PET didn’t work. It actually increased emissions.

It’s rare for a billion-dollar brand to say, “We tried, and it failed.” But that’s what builds real credibility.

So, What’s the Cure?

Not brutal honesty. Not oversharing. But real, intentional transparency. The kind that says, “Here’s where we are. Here’s where we’re trying to go. And here’s what we’re struggling with.”

1. Be honest about where you are, not just where you're going.

2. Celebrate progress, not only perfection.

3. Ditch the buzzwords when a simple answer will do.

4. Show your flaws, but own your efforts.

5. Build reputation on consistency, not drama.

6. And if you must add a little flair, make sure it doesn’t hide the truth.

To Sum Up…

Nelson didn’t need an eyepatch to be a hero. He already was one. The eyepatch just made the story easier to tell: more theatrical, more symbolic. That’s the danger. When the myth overshadows the work, we start building cathedrals of illusion and forget to lay solid foundations.

In a world where everyone seems polished and perfect, showing your scars isn’t weakness; it’s leadership.  

And it just might be the thing that makes people believe in you for real.