“He’s a lousy liar for a ceo”
Thu, Jan 29, 2009
Coaching, Leaders In the News: Bad News, Leadership Development
This line was spoken by the character, Cal Lightman, in the new tv show, Lie to Me on Fox TV last evening.
It reflects a too-widely held belief that the vast majority of CEOs are liars and cheats. The show is a drama based on real science of deception detection via involuntary microexpressions on our faces and involuntary physical movements.
The idea of deceiving employees, shareholders and others is absolutely abhorrent to the dozens of CEOs with whom I work on a regular basis. So it gets my attention when the behavior of a few miscreants highly visible in the news is believed to be the norm.
And it is worse, in this case, because the show was created by and written by Samuel Baum, our son.
If you are a leader and you believe that you can fake it and get away with it, be warned: the public is getting even more adept at reading you and what you say and how you say it will be recorded for eternity on the internet.
Thats my view, what’s yours?
To view past episodes of Lie To Me, go to hulu.com/lietome
Tags: Cheating, Leadership, Lying
Countless more ordinary people of equal talent never developed the leadership core required to run the show. Why not?
I agree that most CEO’s are impeccably honest in all their dealings and expect the same of their teams. Maybe my belief comes from my experiences and exposure to some very solid business executives and an upbringing by my father, who lived his life and military career with a simple slogan that was on his wall or desk in every office he held… “Why lie when the truth is so much easier.”
Personally, I continue to be disappointed when I hear stories of public officials and leaders committing crimes and deceiving their constituents.
Given the chance, I would amend every criminal law to include a clause that doubles the penalty for each and every crime when committed by a public official, priest, or business executive. I believe it is only fitting that those who make their living from the “public trust” pay a greater penalty for abusing that trust.