Over the past 20 years we have heard this story in the news far too many times. Some famous actor, athlete, singer, entertainer, elected official, or other well-known person calls a news conference. It’s always the same. We see it coming. After all, they have been in the news over the past few days or weeks.
In the past month we watched stories of Lance Armstrong and all that he was dealing with, his history of using some performance-enhancing drugs that helped him to keep up his strength. We’ve heard stories about the use of drugs in sports for years. Athletes get caught and then they come forward in the press and tell us how they must come clean.
Everyone knows I’m not the greatest at using sports people for stories; so let me shift to a music story. Since this past weekend was the Grammys, we all remember back to the story of Milli Vanilli. They felt the hands of people coming down and finding out the secret they had inside. So they came forward and admitted it. They gave back their Grammy awards and walked away.
How many of you would come forward and admit that you were wrong, that you have been cheating? The truth is, to be a good leader you must be an authentic person and that means you cannot keep secrets. A good leader is not one way at business and another in his home.
I grew up in Protestant Churches. They abound with stories of great preachers who fell to some ungodly ways. Temptation grabbed them and when their closet doors were opened the secrets came out. Overnight hey went from people we could look up to to someone who had lost all credibility.
I have known this over and over again, in all fields. We cannot all be perfect; we are all going to mess up or screw up at something in our lives. The key to a good leader is to become an authentic person. Admit when you are wrong and learn from it.
In this week featuring good leaders, we must learn to create leaders, and not just in our business. We need to teach our kids to become good leaders, so when they hit the business world they set a better example for those that will follow them.
I close out today, with something Zig used to always teach in his bible study class. He would ask, “Do you feel the church has too many hypocrites in it?” Then he would smile and say, “We have room for one more. Come join us.”
There is always some area of life we need to improve. Become authentic in who you are. Stop hiding it, be honest with it and work to improve your leadership. The world wants to see more real people out teaching they can do it, they want to learn from those that have failed, are real and teach how to rebuild after they fall. Are you ready to become an authentic leader?
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Are you ready to do what it takes to make 2013 rock?
