A long time ago I “inherited” an employee I was assured was an “All Star”. I remember the first time I met him. He was young, very self-assured and confident. If anything, I thought he was a little too much “in my face” when we met, but I chalked it up to him being young and having had a few drinks during a corporate “social” event.
Initially,
At first I was impressed with his fearlessness in driving to make sales. He was a solid presenter, pushed passed objections and hustled to close the deal. However, he wasn’t closing any deals. Problems with his approach became evident after I started joining his sales calls.
- He never listened to anything the customer (or anyone else) was saying.
- He was resistant to coaching, refusing to make any changes.
- He was driven to “win” at all costs.
- He blamed his failures on his coworkers, management, the product, or our customers.
My least favorite thing about him was that he was a liar.
After a month of getting nowhere with him I was ready to fire him. My boss insisted I invest more time “developing” him. It was infuriating because my employee was obstinate, entitled and tried to undermine me by working my boss.
To make a long story short, this employee was “promoted” from my team to a different manager a few months later. He continued to be a problem. Within a year he had resigned when faced with a performance improvement (ie. we’re going to fire you) plan.
Over subsequent years, I’d get LinkedIn notifications about him starting a new job every year or so.
Having hired, managed and fired many sales people, I recognized this pattern. Some reps talk a good game when interviewing. But once in the role when they have to deliver, they last only a short while until they are fired.
My suspicion was that he had not changed much from when we had worked together.
I hadn’t thought about this employee until I read a news article years later about a business he co-founded.
The business, which initially had been embraced as a darling by the local business community, was a disaster less than 18 months later. The reporter interviewed employees, vendors and contractors who were all disgruntled.
The gist of the article was that the cofounder lied to them constantly. He failed to deliver on contractual obligations. He made verbal commitments that he didn’t honor. He stiffed vendors and paid contractors late. Several liens and lawsuits were filed against him.
The reporter interviewed the cofounder who during the interview:
- Took credit for the work of others.
- Tried to charm his way past “vendor disagreements”.
- Said all invoices were paid promptly.
- Blamed others for any disputes.
The reporter saw through the lies. The article was a scathing expose of shoddy business practices and sketchy ethics.
I don’t believe that people get what they deserve.
Bad people win sometimes. Good people lose sometime. There is no justice.
And, I honestly wish t my former employee had matured into an honest man who learned to be successful in business. I had many former employees who did just that.
Then again, those employees weren’t pathological, self-serving liars. Eventually, that type of behavior becomes obvious to the people surrounding you. When that happens, people will distance themselves. If they are receiving sufficient rewards (money, promotions, perks, status, etc.) they might tolerate you, but the second things go south, they’re gone.
I’ve known a few pathological liars in my life. Although life went well for them for a time, they ended up bitter, isolated and alone.
I wonder if the news article / business failure were a wake-up call for this guy. Perhaps it was the slap in the face he needed to change his ways.
I never found out and have no plans to ever look into it. I’d rather use my mind space for more rewarding endeavors.