5 Ways to Avoid Being A Hypocritical Leader in 2023

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As we move into 2023, most people will be making New Year’s resolutions, or at the very least, taking some time to think about what they hope to accomplish in the year ahead. While most business leaders will rightfully be focused on driving results and performance, they shouldn’t ignore the opportunity to self-reflect and contemplate how their behaviors might be affecting their people.

In fact, one of the cornerstones of effective leadership is a high level of self-awareness, which typically falls within the broader umbrella of emotional intelligence . Part of being a self-aware leader is having the ability to see when your actions don’t align with your words; that is, when you’re not “practicing what you preach.” This is what we call hypocrisy, and in the context of leadership, it can quickly erode the trust of your workforce.

Leadership hypocrisy can take on many forms, and there usually isn’t any intent to be deceitful. It could be as simple as wearing a suit and tie to a company meeting when you’ve told your team members to dress casually. Or it could be something more harmful, like encouraging your team members to work remotely but then going into the corporate office every day and praising employees when they go in as well.

Now, I don’t think any leader wants or aims to be a hypocrite. I think most leaders are doing their best to deal with the day-to-day demands of their role, and sometimes moments of hypocrisy slip through the cracks. I also know that there are longstanding assumptions about how a leader should act, and these can contribute to a myriad of hypocritical behaviors.

The issue is that when taken all together, these small-scale instances of hypocrisy can add up to a much bigger problem at your organization. That’s because when leaders say one thing but then do another, it breeds a culture of distrust, where employees don’t feel that they can take you at your word. It also creates an environment where leaders are clearly held to a different standard, and workers become confused about what is actually expected of them.

This is a dangerous situation for any organization to be in, but the good news is that it can easily be avoided. Leaders who are able to honestly reflect on their shortcomings — and seek out the feedback of others — can, over time, regain the trust of their people and create a culture where everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goals.

In today’s article, I’ll describe 5 areas where leaders may inadvertently be sending the wrong message to their people, by acting in a way that doesn’t align with what they’ve said or committed to.

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