Good leaders lie because they think they have to. To protect morale, to buy time, to manage perception.
They lie because they believe the truth will cause panic, disengagement, or revolt. They say the future looks bright—when it doesn’t. They lie by omission about layoffs until the press release drops. They insist the strategy is sound—even as the wheels come off.
But these lies aren’t told with malice. They’re told with a sense of duty. Good leaders are taught that leadership means shielding others from uncertainty, projecting confidence, and keeping the wheels turning. The problem is: that version of “good” is doing real damage.
Political scientist John Mearsheimer called this out in Why Leaders Lie, identifying five types of deception in global politics—fearmongering, strategic cover-ups, nationalist myths, moralized deception, and competitive misdirection. And while his work focused on nation-states, the same playbook plays out in the corporate world.
CEOs lie to their teams to keep things moving, at least on the surface. The problem is, beneath that surface, people can feel the truth. And when their lived experience doesn’t match the story being told, trust erodes. Quickly.
Change is where this shows up most. When a company faces disruption—whether due to market shifts, economic pressure, or internal missteps—leaders often default to message management. They tell people what they think they need to hear. They delay, deny, or deflect. Not because they want to deceive, but because they fear what might happen if they don’t.
But here’s what actually happens: people stop believing them. Not just about the change at hand—but about everything else too. The impact of a lie lingers far beyond the moment. It creates a lasting belief that leadership isn’t honest. And collectively, through a series of lived experiences and headlines, the global workforce has developed the shared belief about leadership that they cannot be trusted. So every leader has to overcome the perception of being a liar to some degree, even if they’re a boyscout.
We’ve seen this up close in our research at with John Frehse at Ankura. In a study of nearly 50,000 frontline employees, we found a staggering drop in perceived care from managers over time. In month one, 72% of employees felt their manager cared about them. By month three, it dropped to 51%. By the end of year one, only 37% still felt cared for.
The reason? Communication. Not its frequency, but its honesty. There was a near-perfect correlation—0.9917—between feeling cared for and feeling communicated with effectively. In other words: when leaders stop speaking plainly, people stop feeling seen.
The instinct to protect people from change is understandable. But the effect is the opposite. The more leaders sugarcoat, the more people brace for the worst. The more leaders delay transparency, the more employees turn to rumor and speculation. In today’s fast-moving, hyper-connected organizations, there is no buffer left for spin.
So what’s the alternative?
It begins with surrender. Not surrendering to chaos, but surrendering the illusion of control. Most leaders still operate under the belief that if they can control the message, they can control the outcome. But you can’t. Not anymore. People don’t just listen to what you say. They interpret what you do. They remember what you avoid. They notice what you contradict.
The antidote to the leadership lie isn’t more polish—it’s more honesty. Clarity over confidence. Precision over performance.
When you tell the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable—you give people back their agency. You allow them to respond, to prepare, to trust. That builds real alignment. That invites real accountability. That creates the conditions where people can navigate change with integrity, not fear.
Mearsheimer was right—leaders lie. But the conditions that once made those lies work are gone. Today’s workforce is more informed, more connected, and more skeptical than ever. Which means the only real strategy is truth. So don’t be a good leader, be the one they believe.
Elsewhere In Culture
The word “diversity” is disappearing from corporate job titles and policies, but the work itself is not going anywhere. That is the paradox. In the face of political backlash, companies are quietly embedding DEI principles under the banners of culture, wellbeing, and belonging. Some see that as a retreat. I see it as an opportunity. If culture truly shapes every corner of an organization, as Paul Sesay suggests, then this shift could become a catalyst for deeper transformation. But only if leaders stay honest about what they are doing and refuse to let fear drive the strategy.
Renaming the work does not mean the work is finished. Culture is not a surface-level concept for managing perceptions. It is systemic. And when organizations start avoiding certain language just to stay politically neutral, they risk creating confusion. The best leaders do not just rebrand the initiative. They recommit to the purpose behind it. That means asking tough questions. Are we still creating equitable environments, or are we retreating into comfort zones? Culture is not about staying quiet. It is about standing firm and building systems that reflect our values through action, not just words.
https://www.ft.com/content/83903b17-08aa-4833-b3a5-e38288899b10?utm_source=chatgpt.com
When I was at Oracle, we constantly ran into roadblocks trying to roll out talent initiatives in Germany. Everything had to go through the Betriebsrat—the Workers Council—and many of our global strategies just didn’t fly there. At the time, it felt frustrating. Sluggish. Like unnecessary red tape. But now, I wonder if that friction was actually a feature, not a bug.
In Germany, employee voice is not an afterthought—it’s a built-in feature of how companies operate. From works councils to formal board representation, employees are given a meaningful role in shaping decisions. These councils aren’t just advisory; they have codetermination rights, which means they must approve changes related to hiring, compensation, surveillance tools, and more. It’s not just about making people feel heard. It’s about aligning the goals of the business with the people who power it.
Companies like Zalando and Volkswagen are showing that culture can be both protective and performance-driven—when it’s designed for collaboration instead of control. What stands out is how leadership teams in Germany think long-term. Instead of scrambling for talent with perks or panic, they’re building systems that reflect what people truly want: security, flexibility, and respect.
This model reveals something powerful: culture becomes a competitive advantage when it’s reinforced by structure. It’s not a campaign. It’s not a set of values on a poster. It’s how people are treated, how decisions are made, and how trust is built over time. That’s what drives results.