Ostentatious moral preening; a rough end to a sleepless night

Last night I slept (barely!) on two pieces of cardboard in the cold night air, the culmination of a fundraising campaign to raise much needed awareness and money to help the 110,000 who are homeless in Australia. That tally includes 17,000 children under the age of 12.  

My friends, family, colleagues and clients (in Australia and overseas) donated to the cause and are much more aware of the plight of the homeless because of it, and what they can do to help all year round.

So far, this year's Vinnies CEO Sleepout AU has raised over $5.56m nationwide (with more to come) and has raised over $30m since its inception with the one aim - to help people who have often come to the end of the line; people who have sought help with government agencies but who end up with nowhere else to go when they don't tick all the boxes.

Walk a mile in their shoes

Last night we got a small insight into just how humiliating, frustrating and debilitating it can be when we took on a homeless person's persona by doing a "Walk a mile in someone's shoes".  Being shuffled from pillar to post between government agencies, I likened it to a game of snakes and ladders; just when you felt like you were getting somewhere, you were shunted off somewhere else and were back where you started.  The very system which is designed to help you can often become the straw that breaks the camel's back, as you lose the last vestiges of your dignity and what remains of your sense of hope.

So it's really, really sad to read these sorts of comments this morning in response to news reports of the event:

• "... a one-off stunt that treats the plight of the homeless with contempt."
• "Why do these people need their tablets and smartphones......of course to spend all night posting on Twitter and Facebook." * 
• "Sleeping rough in designer 'stay warm' outfits, jeans and jackets. No doubt fully catered from local cafes and 5 star restaurants." **
• "Sorry but if those who participated think they have done something special, they need to rethink it." 
• "Ostentatious moral preening.  Disgusting."
• "What a bunch of pointless posers. Lots of free publicity and moral grandstanding that achieves little for the homeless."

Of course, everyone has their own reason(s) for doing the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, and maybe some of them did do it because it would make them look good, not just feel good.  But even if that is the case, they still did something that raised awareness and raised money to help others.

So why attack it?

The irony for me is, it's quite likely those commenting all slept in their own warm beds last night, have their own version of "designer" jeans and were using their own tablets/phones to read the articles they decided needed their insightful commentary. Did any of those commenting on the news article raise any money for charity last night?  Do they donate?  Do they raise awareness of the plight of others?  Do they give their time to help others?  Do they try to make a difference?  

I actually have no idea if they do or they don't, but it did get me pondering.  You see I've proudly made Australia my home for the last eight years and I love this country like I was born here, and I've been accepted by the community, despite my inability to rid myself of my Pommy accent.  And I started to think that this sort of reaction is a by-product of the infamous Australian "tall poppy syndrome" - the need to cut someone down to size once they become successful and therefore "too big for their boots" because we're all equal in this beautiful wide brown land.  But sadly I don't think it's just an Aussie thing - I think it's a phenomenon the world over.  

Because when we get an opportunity to cheer on the attempts of others to make a difference, we often become the 'armchair general'; the one who doesn't actually get himself dirty, but who definitely knows exactly how to win the war and tells everyone who will listen.   And instead of trying to support each other, we try to make ourselves feel better by putting other people's efforts down in the mistaken belief that if they are less then I must be more.  For me to win, you must lose.  Scarcity.  Fear and doubt.

If we do that, we all lose.  

And it's not just in charity that we lose - we lose everywhere, including in our workplaces, where we consciously or unconsciously sabotage each other in an attempt to make ourselves look good, and make sure nobody gets more of the pie than us.  

So let's be mindful of the culture that we are creating by our every word, deed and newspaper comment.  Let's be the role model of how we want the world to be, let's build each other up, and if we don't agree with the solution others have provided, demonstrate how we might have done it differently with our actions.

Because right now, the homeless need all our support.  Not just those willing to 'rough' it for one night. 

PS There was one comment out of the 30 comments that I did like:

"Brilliant effort.  Makes me even prouder to be Australian, albeit the Pommie version...."

Let's do this.

* Yes, this was a luxury we were allowed so we could continue to fundraise and raise awareness throughout the event

** Our single cup of soup, the bread roll and cookie were donated by the generosity of Our Big Kitchen, a community run, non-denominational, industrial kitchen where meals are prepared for distribution to needy people across Sydney.  It was definitely five stars from me!

#CEOSleepoutAU #leadership #makeadifference

You can still donate to the Vinnie's CEO Sleepout here:  https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/ceos/nsw-ceos/julie-alexander 

Author:  Julie Alexander, The Private Coach

Julie is the founder of The Private Coach a consultancy that specialises in partnering with successful business leaders to produce performance breakthroughs in critical areas of their business, by creating shifts in thinking and behaviour fundamental to success.  By harnessing disruptive leadership and empowering people to create and realise high impact outcomes and dramatic shifts in performance, our collaboration transforms business cultures so that team members thrive, solid bottom line results are attained and sustainable competitive advantage is achieved.

Julie is a culture and business performance specialist, creator of the Culture Incorporated series, a writer of blogs, a facilitator, speaker, trainer, coach and mentor. You can get to know her on Facebook and Twitter.