The Hypocrisy that Limits Your Ability to Lead
Most people do not look in the mirror and think – hypocrite. But, if we pick and choose when we act with Integrity, what should we call ourselves? Answer: Hypocrites
Part time Integrity is not really Integrity. It is hypocrisy. If we only choose Integrity when it is easy, what are we? Answer: Hypocrites.
The root word is Integer – which means whole or pure. That means if Integrity is not a Habit of Character we exercise in the hard decisions AND the easy decisions, we are probably damaging our ability to lead at work and at home.
It all boils down to a choice. Do we choose the easy path or the path less travelled? Do we choose hypocrisy or do we choose Integrity?
The Choices We All Face
Our character is the some total of our habits – the good habits and the bad habits. Our habits are formed based on our choices. Each time we make a choice, it makes it easier to make that same choice again.
Each time we choose hypocrisy, it makes it easier to choose it again. Each time we choose Integrity it becomes easier to choose Integrity the next time as well. The issue comes down to our choices when we are tempted to take the easy route.
Do I choose to allow someone to be deceived about my role in a team’s success, or do I proactively clarify things?
Do I choose to move to the front of the line, or offer the spot to someone who was waiting longer?
Do I choose to bend the rules to make my life easier, or do I follow the letter of the law and not cut corners?
Do I choose to blame traffic for being late, or do I claim responsibility for leaving the house late?
All of these choices have an effect on our character. The size of the choices or the consequences implicit in those choices is not important. If I choose anything other than Integrity, then I should rightly see myself as a hypocrite.
The Easy Choices
“If doing the right thing were easy, everyone would be doing it.”
– My dad (The General)
The fast track to hypocrisy is to consistently choose the path of least resistence. The pragmatic decision, the decision to do what would make our lives easier, is frequently the wrong choice when it comes to our character.
The 12 Word definition of Integrity we present in our book Becoming a Leader of Character (click here to preorder) is:
Doing what is good and right and proper, even at personal cost.
If the only time we choose the right thing is when it can’t hurt us, we can’t call ourselves a person of Integrity.
The Hard Choices
Integrity is not forged in the easy choices. It is forged in the hard choices. Without developing the habit of choosing the harder right instead of the easier wrong, we will all succumb and become the hypocrites we never dreamed of ourselves to be.
It is hard to be the person who stands alone in a crowd of people who all want to make the easier choice. It is hard to put ourselves at a disadvantage because we chose the harder path of Integrity. But it is the habit of making these hard choices that creates a leader of Integrity other people want to follow.
The Bottom Line:
The choice between hypocrisy and Integrity presents itself everyday. The opportunity to build up our character or tear it down is always in front of us.
Whether we are hypocrites or Leaders of Character depends on our daily choices – the big choices and the small choices.
Choosing Integrity does not always bring tangible rewards. Most of the time the only reward is an inward one. We have just become a stronger leader with stronger character.
The choice is ours: Hypocrisy or Integrity
If you want to look at yourself in the mirror and determine where your strengths and weaknesses may be, click on the following link and spend 5 minutes evaluating your own character. IT’S FREE!
We call it the My Mirror Character Assessment. No one will see your results but you. You will get them instantly and also via email.
Please give us feedback on the assessment. We will be promoting it from now on, and we ask you to share it with others as well via the social media buttons at the end of the assessment.
Question:
What choice – large or small- do you face that will test your Integrity today?
