Should Leaders Give Into Temptation?

I write this as a half-eaten bar of chocolate stares at me from the living room table. My wife has probably set up a secret camera to test how long it takes me to crack. It has been a long day, and that sweet sugar rush seems so tempting. I was joking about the camera; no one will know, will they? Well, apart from you of course.

5 minutes later and the chocolate has mysteriously disappeared.

Thoughts of plausible deniability flit through my head. The dog ate it…. I gave it to the little girl from over the street… An army of ants transported it off into the distance…. No, as sure as night follows day, my wife will come home and give me that knowing smile. She won’t say anything, but I will be giving her yet another sign of my weakness. I was easily tempted. It won’t be the last time. I would like to think that my willpower in other areas of my life is a little stronger. I managed to build a successful business (with the help of many) and worked through the worst recession in living memory, so it can’t all be bad. However, I can’t help thinking that if my wife were an employee, what would she think about my giving in so easily. I can’t always control my temptation about chocolate, maybe one day that weakness will seep into another (more important) part of my life.

Once you give someone reason to doubt you that memory is almost impossible to eradicate. The load on today’s leaders is so high that it would be fully understandable for them to cut a few corners and bend the rules slightly, wouldn’t it? The temptation to take an unplanned day working from home…. The temptation to watch the rugby on their smartphone during the conference…. The temptation to cancel a supplier meeting because they weren’t feeling well….

I’m sure that you can think up many other temptations that would make them seem like a less than perfect leader, but I can tell you one thing – they are only human.

Very few of us have iron willpower, and unless a certain act is materially detrimental to the business or the people around them, why shouldn’t leaders be allowed moments of weakness every now and again? Better to be open about it than hide them and pretend that they are perfect. No one would believe that anyway. Part of being an authentic leader is admitting that you want to bring your child into the office every now and again, or letting people know that you will be watching the sport and allowing them to do the same.

All humans give into temptation sometimes, and leaders are no different. If you choose your moments of weakness, you can also choose to use your willpower at times when it truly matters. So, yes, I ate that chocolate bar. I gave in. But, today I am going to go that extra mile for my company, for my team and for my customers…. I will never give in, for their sake.

Sometimes you need to be strong, and sometimes it’s ok to be weak. You can’t be a superhero all the time.