A leader who says one thing and does another is not a leader. Hypocrisy is a virus that infects at rapid rates if you let it. That disease will spread right through you to everyone else around you quickly if you let it. People can see right through hypocrisy. They can sense it on you. If you are the leader of a group, soon, those around you will think it’s okay to say one thing and do another because they see their leader doing it. People don’t respect hypocrites. Keeping the respect of others is about staying true to your word. It’s about practicing what you preach in real time every single day. No matter what challenges you face, your convictions will guide you through them. That is what strong leadership is all about.
Analyzing examples of hypocrisy
American politician and “democratic socialist”, Bernie Sanders, recently wrote a book, “It’s Ok To Be Mad About Capitalism.” This book right off the jump falls flat on its face. It’s obvious he doesn’t believe a word he’s saying. In order to combat the “evils of capitalism”, he decided to write a for-profit book, release it for sale wherever books are sold, and schedule a book tour to promote his book, all of which is paid for by consumers in the form of profit. His anti-capitalism book is using capitalistic avenues to enrich himself. People see right through that kind of thing. This is the reason why Bernie Sanders and those like him struggle to gain legitimate support from mainstream America. He appears inauthentic. For years he proclaimed “millionaires and billionaires” need to be taxed more. Then, he became a millionaire and the previous phrase shrunk down to just “billionaires”. These are just two examples of a public life full of hypocrisy. Strong leaders stick to their convictions, even when it isn’t expedient to do so. Those who are weak-willed, such as Mr. Sanders, will cave and deflect whenever it is expedient that he does so. Now, let’s take a look at a contrasting figure and see what makes a strong leader by sticking to convictions and not caving to the pressure of hypocrisy.
Maintaining belief in one’s convictions
Elon Musk is a left of center public figure. Not until the 2022 midterms did he vote for someone who was not a democrat. After witnessing the widespread hypocrisy of the democratic party and the major players in it such as Bernie Sanders, Musk decided it was the better move to remain true to his convictions than his allegiance to a specific political party. Musk values free speech and other principals that represent the foundation of America. He saw that one of the most popular forms of communication online, Twitter, was censoring people the platform’s leaders didn’t agree with under the guise of “hate speech”, and “violating community guidelines”. The opportunity arose for the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to put his money where his mouth was and take the huge financial risk of not only buying Twitter and taking it private, but also overpaying significantly for it! Since his purchasing of Twitter, Musk has released many of the inner workings of Twitter and how it was censoring the free speech of its political enemies. Never before has the public been made truly and undeniably aware of what was really going on behind the scenes. Suspicions were confirmed true and Musk’s intent of conserving free speech in America online has prevailed largely to this point. He has reinstated many of the accounts the previous higher-ups in Twitter banned including President Donald Trump and public figure Andrew Tate. Although he may not agree with all of their messaging, he does think all people should be free to have a voice regardless of how he feels about their ideas and whatever else they have to say.
This is a man who is deeply invested in his values and is a shining example of what it is to be a leader. When Elon says he is going to do something, you better believe he is serious about it and will find a way to get it done. He shares a quality with former President Trump in that you always know how he feels about different things. He makes his opinions clear and in no way does he cave to pressure from anyone else. Hypocrisy is a non-factor in his life and this is the reason he has been able to galvanize the support of so many to launch, acquire, and scale some of the most successful businesses the world has ever seen.
Other figures such as the aforementioned Donald Trump and Joe Rogan are similar to Musk in this respect. They are always true to who they are, never compromising their values or principles for the approval of others or the expediency of their careers. It has paid massive dividends in their lives with both of them being ultra wealthy, well-respected, and pioneers of the American Dream. Joe Rogan routinely outperforms his competitors in the legacy media in terms of viewership by leaps and bounds because of his authenticity and the media’s lack thereof. Donald Trump won the 2016 Presidential Election for this very reason as well. His authenticity shined bright next to the inauthentic and hypocritical Hillary Clinton.’
Be your authentic self and you will succeed
Being authentic to your core is the best way to garner the respect of those around you. Hypocrisy is a game for cowards and eventually hypocrites crumble to the pressure that builds up on their empty beliefs over time. If you want to be a great leader and you want the respect of others around you, stay true to your convictions. Understand yourself and your values and build a foundation around it. The universe will attract like-minded people to you, and together, you can build something great. Hypocrisy is a cancer to success. Authenticity is where success lies.