Have you ever worked with someone who talked about experiences that seemed far-fetched, but you couldn't pin down what was off? Does that person seem to always have a story with them as the hero or victim? Do they tell different stories to different people, but never in a group? You may be dealing with a pathological liar.
A pathological liar is someone who:
(“Pathological Liar: How to Cope with Someone’s Compulsive Lies.” Healthline, 2018, www.healthline.com/health/pathological-liar.)
Dealing with a pathological liar in the workplace can be exceptionally difficult. Once you determine that someone has been lying, you need to address specific issues with them and call them out on their lies. It is best to do this with a witness and possibly recorded, so that they cannot lie about the meeting. Specific measures must be taken to ensure that the individual does not continue lying. If the lies have been egregious enough – the individual will need to be fired from the job. Someone who lies pathologically in the workplace can wreck havoc upon a work environment. Addressing the rest of the employees about the termination is important, but you need to maintain professionalism. Some tips:
Generally speaking, once a problem employee leaves an organization, people start to realize that their work environment is running smoother, and even if they aren't sure about why – they recognize improvement.
Appeared in CONFLICT RESOLUTION QUARTERLY, vol. 27, no. 1, Fall 2009 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Conflict Resolution • DOI: 10.1002/crq.250 Reproduced with permission of John Wiley...
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