Bosses can create a lot of problems. Liar Manager. Sometimes they are mean, sometimes they meddle in the minute details, and sometimes they refuse to manage at all.
But discovering your boss’s lies takes a strained employee-manager relationship to another level. Once that trust is eroded, it becomes difficult to follow your boss’s directions, wondering if he or she is leading you on the right path or misleading you.
Everything that comes out of his mouth becomes questionable Information about the position of the company, promises of raises or new projects, and even the assurance of your good work suddenly seems questionable. This makes it very difficult to do your job effectively.
So what happens when you catch your boss in one or several lies? And how to deal with the liar manager?
For me, having a bouncing boss wasn’t much of a problem figuring out how to stop him.
Lying is usually not something you can simply manage from someone. Liar Manager. And so it became a matter of coming to terms with myself if I could continue to work with a boss whom I did not fully trust.
To do this, I asked myself a few basic questions that helped me get to the root of the problem and decide how to move forward.
What are the intentions of the liar manager?
Two years ago, my entire department was working on an intense and time-sensitive project – which involved contacting our entire client base one by one.
I was one of the department supervisors. Liar Manager. so the other managers and I met regularly with my boss to discuss the team’s progress.
To make sure we met the deadline, the president decided to announce that the company’s executive team had given us a deadline of four weeks — when it was six.
He thought that by playing around with the number a bit. Liar Manager. he could make sure we met the CEOs’ timeline — or even beat it.
Also Read: How to Make Your Boss Respect You
In the end, we were able to deliver the completed project to the company’s executive team ahead of schedule – putting the entire department in a good light.
In another job, I had a boss (the owner of a small startup company) who often reported the truth – especially to the media.
Whenever he was cited in a newspaper article or interview, he overestimated our staff. It boasted of employing over 350 employees – when in fact we only had around 100.
The difference between the two? The first boss wanted the team to succeed; To achieve good results early that will enhance the department’s reputation and value within the entire company. While I wouldn’t condone the false behavior, from what I can tell, he had good intentions.
The second manager wanted to show his company a success. He wanted the credit for running such a large company without actually working for such impressive numbers. Lying created a direct shortcut for him to achieve this goal – and proved his selfish intentions.
How does it affect you and those around you?
In the first case, I’ll admit it – the tight deadline has definitely added some stress and pressure to the team’s daily life.
But given that it didn’t require hours of overtime or employees staying up late at night, it proved to be something the team was able to do all along – they just needed that push.
In short, the fake deadline made the team work harder for success.
But the other situation put everyone in the company in an uncomfortable position. If we were asked questions by any of our clients or media contacts, we had to decide whether to support our boss and perpetuate dishonesty or speak up for the truth and risk our jobs.
Read also: How do I convince my boss to quit?
The effect of the two cases differed greatly. While one pushed the employees to greatness, the other forced the employees to be dishonest.
In the end, no matter how great your boss’s intentions are, or how small the impact that lies have on your business, the truth is that finding out that your boss has lied even once is enough to undermine your trust in him or her. Thus, you should evaluate your relationship to determine if you can resolve it — or if you’d prefer to find a trustworthy boss elsewhere.
These questions provided me with enough clarity to realize that I could still work with the President in the first position.
I saw that his intentions were good, the effect was beneficial, and overall I still respect him as a manager and leader.
However, dishonesty in the second situation was something I couldn’t overlook. This boss constantly lied for his own good, no matter how much it affected the rest of the team.
This in and of itself immediately changed the way I looked at him and took me away from the respect I had for him.
I didn’t want to invest my time and effort working with a leader I couldn’t trust or respect.
Getting your boss caught in a lie — or many lies — can be a tough situation. But ask yourself two basic questions, trust your gut feeling, and decide what’s best for your career.
