It pays to be seen as honest, not actually honest.
When you're honest, on the other hand, it's easy most of the time because you just tell people what you know to be true.
I wish that were the case, but it isn't. There are many other strategies for avoiding the negative consequences of lying that scale better. Society is really, really bad at holding liars accountable. Just look at President Trump -- or a couple of rungs up your corporate hierarchy.