Readers Ask: My Colleague is Lying on LinkedIn

Strong Opinions, Weekly Held

Reader: I have a colleague who constantly posts on LinkedIn about their work, and I know for a fact that what they’re saying isn’t true. We don’t work together directly, but I’m close enough to these situations to know what actually happens. They’ll consistently inflate their leadership and personal contributions in ways that are somewhere between exaggerating and lying. And it’s driving me crazy. People are liking and commenting on these posts as if this person is some kind of rising star, even though the reality is completely different.

I don’t know if I should say something to them, mention it to someone in leadership, or just accept that this is how people operate now. But I’m genuinely bothered by it.

Jake: Over-embellishing on LinkedIn… say it ain’t so!?

Sorry, I’m being too sarcastic. The truth is, I can relate a little too well to this predicament, and sarcasm is my main defense mechanism. (Whenever I read a post that starts, “I was speaking with several senior leaders…,” my first reaction is: a) you maaaybeee spoke to one person, and b) you are probably just making this up and invoking authority + social proof to sound credible.) So I’m with you, but let’s break this down a bit, because you’re framing this as a principled stance about truth and accuracy, and I think there’s more going on here.

I suspect that you’re “genuinely bothered” by their LinkedIn self-promotion in a way that goes beyond the casual annoyance we have when friends post over-curated vacation photos on Instagram. Social media exaggeration on friend-based networks is mostly costless—annoying, but contained.

What your colleague is doing feels fundamentally different because professional credibility has currency. Their misrepresentations can potentially create real opportunities—promotions, external offers, and more—based on a distorted record. And while professional opportunity is not a fixed pie, it is somewhat fixed (especially for internal opportunities), and your colleague might benefit at the expense of others who are actually more deserving.

So no, you’re not being unreasonable for finding this (a little) troubling. The question is what, if anything, you should do about it.

Saying something directly to your colleague is unlikely to go well. They’ve already rationalized this behavior, so I doubt there’s some magic phrase that would cause them to change while keeping your relationship intact. (Though I suppose if you don’t care about maintaining your relationship, go for it! In that case, a simple “these LinkedIn posts are complete exaggerations—what gives?” would probably suffice.)