Elizabeth Holmes spent some of her last days out of prison with a film crew. She was trying, it seems, to clear her name.
“You really feel you did nothing wrong?” Nathan Fielder, who co-directed the film “You Can See Everything,” asks Holmes in the trailer. “I did not,” she answers. Slated for theatrical release on Friday, the documentary had a surprise premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September that brought Holmes back into the public eye.
Holmes built the now-dissolved blood-testing company Theranos to a multi-billion-dollar valuation and assembled a luminary-filled board of directors on the back of revolutionary promises, some of which never materialized. She was convicted on multiple counts of fraud in 2022 and sentenced to 135 months, or more than 11 years, in prison.
She argued in her trial defense that she believed Theranos’ fledgling technology worked. In a Sept. 27 post on X, Holmes doubled down, writing: “I am fighting to prove my innocence.”
Though it’s impossible to see inside someone’s head, onlookers have debated over the years whether Holmes was sincere in believing her own outlandish claims.
You may never work with someone as infamous and enigmatic as Holmes. But how do you handle a co-worker who appears to believe their own false statements? They might be charming, charismatic and earnest. You, and others, might desperately want to believe what they’re saying. But when a pattern starts to emerge, you can’t ignore it, because you could be left holding the bag when things unravel.
I’ve consulted for major companies including Google and Microsoft, and taught executive education for more than a decade at Columbia Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. I’ve seen how difficult it can be to deal with a colleague who just can’t seem to be straight with you, whether they never deliver their work as promised or constantly misrepresent situations.
When you don’t have the power to personally remove them from their position, you have to find creative workarounds, so you can get your own job done. Here are five strategies you can use when you’re dealing with a co-worker who seems a little delusional.
1. Separate the person from the behavior
One of the most confusing parts about having a co-worker behave this way is that you might genuinely like them. It often feels inspiring to be around people who have a vision and a can-do attitude. That energy can mobilize a team around big goals and lead to genuine progress, even if you don’t hit your boldest targets.
But it’s helpful only up to a point. A repeated pattern of unrealistic expectations and broken promises damages trust and hurts your entire organization. You don’t have to see the person as a villain to recognize that their behavior is causing problems.
2. Build in a margin of error
Think back to the promises your colleague has made to you, write them down and compare them to the outcome. Did they promise to get you a report and then deliver it a week late without apologizing or even acknowledging they missed the deadline? Did they assure you they were on track for 100 new customers by the end of the quarter and only deliver 25 without explanation?
Look for patterns in their over- or under-estimations. Are they inaccurate about speed, volume or sentiment? With that data in mind, you can begin to translate what they’re telling you to create your own, more realistic estimates. If they tell you something will be ready in a month, you’ll know to plan for two. Their wild overconfidence won’t cause downstream problems for your team, because you’ll already be prepared.
As you do this exercise for yourself, start documenting. Keep track of communications and outcomes that don’t match in case you need them later to escalate the situation up to your boss, leadership or HR.
3. Create checkpoints
The problems that affect you most are the ones you never saw coming. It’s hard to pivot last-minute when you’re blindsided by unforeseen developments. So put a monitoring system in place to avoid surprises, as much as possible, from an unpredictable colleague.
If you’re working on a joint project, identify checkpoints when you’ll establish where things really are. For instance, if your co-worker promised you a prototype in six weeks, you can create a checklist of milestones ranging from “customer surveys” to “design mockups” to “sourcing materials” to “fabrication of device.”
If they’re assuring you everything is on track at week four, but no design mockups have even been created, it’s reasonable to assume they’ll miss the deadline — and you can prepare now, rather than scrambling later.
But ultimately, there are only so many ways you can personally compensate for a colleague’s poor performance or broken promises. The next step is to involve others.
4. Get external support
When someone is feeding you inaccurate information one-on-one, they can pretend you misunderstood. That’s much harder to do when there are witnesses. Actively involve your manager or co-workers in planning sessions so that any commitments are made publicly, and your manager can handle follow-up and accountability.
Your colleague might think twice about making grandiose promises if they understand that a failure will be visible to everyone. But sometimes, even the risk of public embarrassment isn’t enough to stop them.
5. Escalate and extricate yourself
You probably don’t have the authority to fire your co-worker, and it can be tricky to actively try to get them fired. Rather than pushing for their ouster — and risking their wrath if they find out — you can concentrate on a different goal you have much more control over: limiting your dependence on them.
Because you’ve already involved your manager, by now they’re well aware of that person’s shortcomings. So they won’t be surprised, and will likely be sympathetic, when you come to them and say: “I need your help. My team has been delayed three times because Jeremy told us he’d have the mockups ready, and it hasn’t happened. It’s unsustainable for us to rely on him. Can we think creatively about how to ensure my team’s work is able to proceed?”
There are at least three potential outcomes:
- You’ll get support for a creative solution. Let’s say your boss can’t fire the hypothetical Jeremy either, whether it’s because he’s outside their chain of command or because he has “protected status” in the organization as the protege of a top leader. But your boss will want to help you get your own work done, so they might let you partner with outside vendors or bring in a new team member to work around Jeremy.
- Your co-worker will get fired. Alternatively, it’s possible your appraisal may be the evidence your boss wants and needs to make the case that Jeremy should go, and they’ll be grateful you provided the impetus.
- You’ve protected yourself. If your boss literally can’t do anything, you’ve at least flagged the problem so that any future failures will be contextualized — “of course, they were relying on Jeremy” — rather than seen as your own inability to deliver.
It’s incredibly challenging to deal with a colleague who seems to believe their own false claims. But these strategies will help you avoid getting dragged down when their lies and exaggerations are finally discovered.
Dorie Clarktaught executive education for more than a decade at Columbia Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. She is a keynote speaker, former presidential campaign spokeswoman, and bestselling author of“The Long Game.”You can subscribe to her e-newsletterhere.
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