Deceit can be taken to such a high art so that it can be cleverly disguised as merely a facet of company policy. But employees seem to know when they are being taken for a ride. The Us vs. Them mentality has shown to be unproductive especially when one side perceives the other to be deceitful and exploitative. As the deception becomes more obvious so too does the perception of exploitation. With exploitation comes resistance and with resistance a drop in productivity.
Compliance replaces superiority and the spiral goes downward.
Members of the organization sense that if the leader cannot be trusted then no one can be trusted. CEOs that deceive stand a reduced likelihood of creating optimal productivity. Without the support and confidence from individuals throughout the organization the chances of success are reduced or in many cases eliminated. They cannot understand the internal dynamics of deceit. When 'trickiness' is applied to employees, it is perceived as deceit.