Six reasons why people gravitate towards lying leaders
This is the second in a three-part series focusing on the seductive power of lying and how dangerous this practice can be when it is adopted by those in leadership. The first blog focused on the ‘seven subtle strategies of lying leaders’ and third will address the ‘six ‘fatal’ character flaws of lying leaders’.
Let’s be clear, leaders are nothing without a followership. Building and cultivating that following often takes time, as leaders must demonstrate character, discipline and sound judgement. Only then can they draw on the trust and influence that gives leadership its potency.
But what about lying leaders? How are they able to gain and maintain mainstream support? Why does this unique brand of social malignancy seem so appealing to so many? Set out below, is my take on six reasons why people gravitate towards lying leaders.
1. Fellowship circles
How often are the actions of individuals influenced by their peers, friends, colleagues and associates? This is the power of fellowship circles and the critical mass that builds, when people herd towards a specific direction, seemingly without reason or consideration of consequence. There are clear lessons from history that show how this kind of behaviour can be stimulated, cultivated and cruelly manipulated by lying leaders. The saving grace perhaps, is that individuals co-opted in this way are most likely to be fair weather followers, rather than dyed in the wool believers.
2. The unpalatable alternative
How bad is a lying leader? Given how much I value leadership integrity I would say very bad. But are they any worse than a leader who is a thief or a coward? What about a leader who is known to be a racist or a misogynist? Suddenly the option of a lying leader or the alternative, looks like ‘Hobson’s Choice’. In politics for example, this is often the dilemma that the voter is presented with — a selection of bad options not good ones. Some people gravitate towards lying leaders, not because they want to, but because they must.
3. Love of the lie
Have you ever wished that a lie was true? For a proportion of those answering ‘yes’, that is where your wishful thinking probably ends. For others, that is where the relentless pursuit of anyone prepared to tell them what their ‘itching ears want to hear’ begins. To create their own reality, these individuals look for echo chambers populated by those only too willing to transmit whatever the hearer desires to receive. Ultimately, this impulse cultivates a reprobate mind, no longer able to distinguish between fact from fiction or right and wrong.
4. Point of desperation
People who present as desperate are usually at their highest point of vulnerability. They are unlikely to have many or any choices available to them and to that extent they are most susceptible to the snake oil salesmanship of lying leaders. These unfortunate individuals represent the lowest hanging fruit for those on the prowl for the easily manipulated. In their desperation they are most likely to accept anything they are told, not because they believe it, but because they have nothing to lose.
5. Crippling insecurity
People in this group represent those who cannot make up their own mind and are simply looking for someone who is confident, articulate and convincing enough to tell them what to think. They are the classic ‘nail-biters’ and ‘bedwetters’ convulsed by low self-worth and compromised by easy ethical virtue. Even after many years of indoctrination, they would not be able to tell you why they believe what they believe, only that it gives them a sense of purpose and pride or worse still, that they are simply following orders.
6. Craven loyalty
Sad though it may be, there are those who present themselves as marks for lying leaders, searching for craven loyalty to predate upon. Either driven by the charisma or seductive messaging of the lying leader, they become willing foot soldiers for the cause. For these individuals the flashing red lights, high decibel alarms and crackling electric fences that provide early warning of approaching danger are either consciously disabled or actively ignored. Therefore, it is not that these individuals are unaware they are being deceived. They are fully aware. They just don’t care.
I find myself deeply disturbed by the reflections in this blog. The fact is that people do gravitate towards lying leaders, often knowingly and in increasingly large numbers. As this blog explains, the reasons why they do it, whilst appearing simple on their face, likely mask deeper underlying issues. Notwithstanding, those who gravitate to lying leaders are not a homogeneous group of individuals. On the contrary, they are an eclectic mix of personalities, with each cohort highly susceptible to the silvery tongue of deceivers for different reasons; some by accident and others by design.
