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Conversations in Management

Gregory Probert

In business and in life, the facts matter greatly.

Gregory Probert was the president and chief operating officer of Herbalife. Now in his early fifties, Probert has enjoyed a highly successful and lucrative career. Prior to accepting a leadership post with Herbalife, he’d held senior-level positions with DMX MUSIC and Planet Lingo. That was after twelve years of top-management experience with Walt Disney’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment division. In addition to the valuable experience he picked up over the years, he also picked up an MBA from California State University…and that’s where Pinocchio comes into the story.

Pinocchio, you’ll recall, is the wooden marionette that magically came to life and launched a quest to become a “real” boy. Largely as a result of his greed, selfishness and gullibility, he found himself in serious trouble (and in prison a good deal of the time according to original story) on an alarmingly regular basis. Compounding Pinocchio’s difficulties was the fact that whenever he told a lie, his nose would grow and the lie would be obvious to all. Perhaps if Probert had been similarly afflicted, his reputation might still be intact and he might still have a job. As it turns out, Probert never earned an MBA, yet for the last five years he’s claimed the degree in multiple company communications and in filings with the Security and Exchange Commission—all in apparent violation of Herbalife’s Corporate Code of Ethics and Business Conduct policy.

Probert and Pinocchio are in good company. Over the last few years, there’s been no shortage of CEO’s caught lying about their college degrees. Bausch & Lomb, RadioShack, Institutional Shareholder Services and Salomon Smith Barney are just some of the companies that had senior officers lie about their degrees—with unhappy consequences. It would be bad enough if only the liars suffered as a result of their actions, but shareholders often take a beating too. Back in 2002 when it was revealed that the CFO of Veritas Software (irony noted) falsified his academic achievements, the value of the stock dropped $1.14 billion. Analysts and traders reasoned that someone who would recklessly lie about something as easily verifiable as their college degrees might just as easily lie about the financial health of their company.

Why do they do it? In Pinocchio’s case, it was because he was literally a block-head, but it’s harder to understand the human liar. Some people lie to cover up wrong doing, however, most of the lies we encounter have more to do with vanity. They're attempts at puffery—exercises in making us look a bit wiser, sexier or mysterious. The trouble is, that what starts out as a little harmless self-aggrandizement can grow into something more. Unfortunately, once the lie is established, it’s hard to retreat from it because, like Pinocchio's nose, everyone will notice. And it’s particularly embarrassing to retreat from a vanity lie because there’s no dignified way to rationalize it in the first place. As a result, putting things right not only harms your reputation but instead of appearing wiser, sexier and mysterious you end up looking only sad and foolish. It’s best not to start down that path to begin with. Probert is right; facts matter greatly. When it comes to your own life, it’s up to you to keep the facts straight. Don't forget that integrity is personal. Your integrity and reputation are entirely within your control and they can only be compromised by you. Probert and Pinocchio learned that lesson the hard way, but you know better…and that’s no lie.

—Ebert