When Managers

Are Liars
by
Michael Driver
Lying managers are a special challenge in the workplace. Like other workers,
managers often lie as a means of self-aggrandizement. Unlike other workers, a
managers lie can be freighted with significance, easily producing unintended
consequences.
While a manager might simply want to impress someone, their motive is probably
more complicated. A manager, for example, might be trying to attract prospective
employees who become disappointed and disgruntled. When the lie is set to lure

an existing employee from another area of the company, rotten results can cause
even greater difficulty.
Because of their position, managers sometimes have extensive schemes in mind
that require lies to facilitate. When lies are used to ensnare workers into
unnecessary exertion, longer hours or some other less than forthright project,
resentment can rise rapidly and infect those employed in other areas of the
company.
Although a good dose of truth can shutdown Machiavellian plots, consider some
other factors. A managers supervisor might well be in the dark about his
subordinates lies until a problem erupts. At that point, cleanup will likely focus
more on the detritus than the lie that caused it, permitting the liar to wiggle into
some other posture or escape altogether.
It may not even be in the selfish interest of the liars supervisor to squelch a
managers lie. Given the state of business ethics, it is entirely conceivable that
the two might collude or that the supervisor might find his own usefulness in the
situation or that upsetting the liar might present a larger problem than ignoring
the lie. With many believing that straightforward conduct at work long since went
the way of the dodo, it is not surprising that liars have a larger field to roam than
previously.
It is no longer possible for the old assumption that all eyes are on the manager
to apply effectively in blocking abuse. Not only do some managers have the
facility to lie shamelessly in the open, a few can use that very openness to
buttress their mischief. Consider, also, that the liars subordinates may be
reluctant to out their boss. They might be benefitting from the lies, creating an
unanticipated shield for the lying manager. In any event, retaliation is a powerful,
if unstated, threat, regardless of prohibitions to the contrary. The reluctance of
American government and businesses to appreciate whistleblowers, let alone
protect them, tempts the sleaziest managers with official respectability.
The problem of lying mangers can be even worse. There is a special type of lying
manger that is shocking to contemplate, beyond the ruthless manager who is
either criminal or psychopathic, neither being categories addressed here.
Some managers lie to themselves and believe their own lies. For a supervisor
who wants to use truth, plain, visible facts to unearth lies and make them
disappear, this type of lying manager can be especially frustrating. This type of
lying manager cannot, for example, confront the lie or participate as a willing
partner in its exposure, a process that can treat, if not entirely cure, many other
liars. This type of lying manager is virtually unreachable. Being unable to
acknowledge the lie themselves, they cannot therefore conceive that anyone else

sees otherwise, meaning that they believe the contradictions they encounter are
evil, personal affronts. As odd as it is to understand, their twisted logic also
means that their incorrect beliefs, that are favorable to some specific person,
process or viewpoint, acquire the necessity of strident defense beyond all
reasonableness. This makes consensus impossible, often erecting barriers to
solutions that would be constructive with others.
So why bother with lying managers? Why not simply eject them and move ahead
with people who are not tainted? The answer, of course, is that were all tainted
in various ways, and everyone, including liars, deserve an opportunity, not only to
work, but also to excel. As it happens, lying managers are frequently quite
competent, sometimes creative and occasionally charismatic, qualities that
commend their possessors, perhaps with reservation, but always with
consideration.
The real problem in dealing with lying managers is in finding and implementing
solutions. Participation, a tool that works well with liars at subordinate levels, may
not work with managers. In those cases where higher positioned workers deal
only with peers, lying is likely to be minimized through the fact that peers are
intolerant of sophomoric transgressions. But managers also work closely with
subordinate staff members who are not in a position to call the boss hand on a
lie and who might even be led by lies.
Another major barrier to dealing with lying managers is the fact that in an
Industrial Age management mindset company with a strict hierarchy, supervisors
may not be allowed to address the lies of subordinate managers. Credit the cult
of Human Resources in part for this corporate failing, one that inhibits good
managers from achieving stellar results. The fact that large companies are
sometimes forced to deal with the shocking behavior of senior executives has
likely engendered institutional mistrust but it is no reason to restrain otherwise
effective managers, leaving them with open-ended personnel problems.
The easiest solution to dealing with lying managers comes in those instances
where the liars curb themselves of their own volition. Because lying managers
are frequently very smart people, self-restraint is often built into their mental
constitution and serves as a natural brake to potentially reckless behavior. But
results are not guaranteed and supervisors may be left searching for a solution.
The outsized ego driving many lying managers may present a means of
approach. In some instances I have successfully fed these egos and provided
outlets for their display and preening. There is obvious risk in this method and at
the very least, it requires constant monitoring and sometimes necessitates
selective intervention. This cautious attempt to control may constitute the most
effective remedy short of opening Pandoras box.

Ultimately, of course, lying managers harm themselves, although it can

sometimes take many years and is never a solution. In the meantime, because
lying managers are often smart, active and engaged, they are apt move on,
frequently up, into another supervisors realm of responsibility.
Copyright 2015 by Michael Driver
Follow on Twitter: @mdMichaelDriver

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