Appearance vs Reality

Several years ago my wife and I attended the live broadcast of an early morning news show on one of the major networks. We were excited to see the people we watch every morning up close and personal. Being in the studio that morning we were able to see how the show was put on. And we were able to see the stars of the show when the cameras were rolling and when they weren’t.

Perhaps I was naive, but what I saw deeply disappointed me. The lead anchor was aloof and rude to the support staff during the commercial breaks when the cameras weren’t rolling. She then transformed herself completely when the show returned to the live broadcast. The person we had been watching, and admiring, every morning for years wasn’t the same person when the cameras weren’t on.

This episode reminds me of some “advice” that Machiavelli provided in The Prince, his class book on the acquisition and retention of power.

“A prince, therefore, need not necessarily have all the good qualities I mentioned above, but he should certainly appear to have them. I would even go so far as to say that if he has these qualities and always behaves accordingly he will find them harmful; if he only appears to have them they will render him service. He should appear to be compassionate, faithful to his word, kind, guileless, and devout. A prince, then, must be very careful not to say a word which does not seem inspired by the five qualities I mentioned earlier. To those seeing and hearing him, he should appear a man of compassion, a man of good faith, a man of integrity, a kind and a religious man. And there is nothing so important as to seem to have this last quality.

Men in general judge by their eyes rather than by their hands; because everyone is in a position to watch, few are in a position to come in close touch with you. Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are. The common people are always impressed by appearances and results.”

I don’t know about you, but I have an internal radar that helps me spot a fake. Something in me seems to prompt me when someone isn’t sincere. They just don’t seem real. Everything they say and do comes across as an act. They seem to be performing a role and I am left wondering who they really are.

Leaders worth following do not engage in this kind of masquerade. Rather, they seek to live out the values they proclaim. While no leader is without gaps between their espoused and enacted values, legacy leaders constantly strive for a level of consistency. The appearance and the reality are lined up. There is no masquerade.