Answer to: My superiors want me to pretend in front of my subordinates that I support a company policy I disagree with. How do I handle this instruction?

I feel you. More precisely I feel like you are my boss. Because I just read the announcement of how we have a new Return-To-Office policy from our coprporate overlords. And how this is a great chance for us to finally... grow together as a team even more (official fairy tale) or more realisticly hate each other because we will now be penned up in bunches of 4-6 in a room with no air condition and constant phone calls that we took about an hour of traffic to even reach. Compared to the previous years of single-person air conditioned offices with no distractions at our respective homes with zero traffic. I don't think there is a good way to transport this decision, simply because it is not logical or in the best interest of the product the company is making. Write an official communication (E-Mail, MS Teams, whatever your official channel is) doing exactly what your bosses want. Give it your best sugar coating. Bring all their arguments and "explain" how they make total sense. It doesn't matter that it is total bullshit. You don't believe it, your coworkers don't believe it, it doesn't matter. These were your orders, you follow them. Before you post that, call in a team meeting with no notes and no recording and tell your team that you think it sucks and you fought it, but weren't successful. Your job now is to make it work and take a boatload of lipstick to the pig. Tell them you will post that after the meeting. And if they want to bitch and moan about it, they will need to do it the old fashioned way, with a coffee in the smokers corner outside the office building. You will be there to listen and maybe chime in. Then post it. Whether you want to look for a better job is up to you. I'm not entirely sure myself yet. Do not make the mistake of actually trying to do what your bosses told you. You cannot. Trust is the only thing you have in terms of respect from your coworkers. Don't throw it away. They know it sucks. They know you know it sucks. You don't have to rile them up and pour gasoline into the fire, but don't sugar coat it any more than you officially have to to comply with the bosses request.