1st Edition
Lie-Ability How Leaders Build and Break Trust
Business success depends on the ability to build trust. Trusted brands succeed and sustain. Trusted leaders inspire followers, grow companies, revenues and futures. But sadly, deceit has infected business and become widespread. Far too many leaders now use their own "alternative facts", to mislead and misinform their customers, colleagues and communities. The skilfulness and ease with which some leaders now lie has become a Lie-Ability. And when customers stop trusting the products, services or the stories a leader tells, then the business suffers.
If business leaders don’t lead a truth renaissance, we are all lost. People no longer trust politicians or the media. And many of the institutions and professions we used to turn to have also lost trust. The only people that can really save us now are business leaders. We need to become truth advocates and activists. We must re-establish a new norm where we tell the truth to ourselves, to our employees, to our shareholders, to our customers and to society at large.
This book explores the 7 Deadly Lies that business tells itself, the 7 Dark Arts of Deception that are still used with monotonous regularity to manipulate the narrative. It offers C-suite leaders and senior managers a clear path out of deceit. It provides a solution to the Lie-Ability of some leaders by developing a deeper understanding of truth, how to reclaim it and how to build back trust.
Part I: The 7 Deadly Lies 1. Free Markets Work 2. Our Primary Responsibility is to Shareholders 3. We Can’t Escape Quarterly Performance 4. Growth Means Financial Growth Only 5. It’s Not Our Job to Solve Society’s Problems 6. We Must Kill the Competition 7. Only Charismatic Experts Reach the Top Part II: The 7 Dark Arts of Deception 8. The First Dark Art of Deception – Distract 9. The Second Dark Art of Deception – Distort 10. The Third Dark Art of Deception – Disrupt 11. The Fourth Dark Art of Deception – Discredit 12. The Fifth Dark Art of Deception – Displace 13. The Sixth Dark Art of Deception – Doubt 14. The Seventh Dark Art of Deception – Discard Part III: Understanding the Nature of Truth 15. The Three Types of Truth 16. Truth and Development 17. Truth and Values 18. Truth and Beliefs 19. Truth and Identity Part IV: Reclaim the Truth 20. Three Steps to Truth
Biography
Alan Watkins is the CEO and Founder of Complete – a consultancy that specialises in developing exceptional leadership globally through individual and team development. Alan has written several books including Step Change: The Leader’s Journey (Routledge, 2022), Innovation Sucks! Time to Think Differently co-authored with Simon May (Routledge, 2021) and HR (R)Evolution: Change the Workplace, Change the World co-authored with Nick Dalton (Routledge, 2020).
Simon Jones is a lead consultant with Chime Group and VCCP Business, delivering strategic counsel in international relations, communications, crisis communications and reputation management for governments, corporations and individuals around the world. Over the last 20 years he has advised chief executives and chairs of global organisations, in addition to managing complex and global communications campaigns for some of the world’s leading brands.
