Good Hypocrisy
By: David Freund 

Could hypocrisy actually be a good thing? Could there be a benefit to a form of hypocrisy?

For my entire life I have been told that being a hypocrite was wrong. I was taught that the definition of a hypocrite is someone who does one thing but says something else. Recently one of my mentors mentioned “Good Hypocrisy.” This concept really had me baffled at first. How could something so terrible, self-serving, and deceitful be a good thing? After pondering this idea for a bit, I realized that my mentor was correct. There is such a thing as Good Hypocrisy. Please allow me to explain.

We all have behaviors that we would like to change. Perhaps we have values that we are not happy with and we set out to change them. So how do we make the change? How do we make the turn and follow a different path? We begin by changing our thought life. We need to begin the change on the inside. This by nature will have us speaking and thinking the new way before our actions reflect the change. In essence we are practicing Good Hypocrisy. So what would this look like?

I am a person who values reflection. I believe it allows us to take experiences and learn from them. I have five questions I ask myself at the end of every day. 1) What went well? 2) What didn’t go well? 3) What did I learn? 4) What will I change? 5) What was the highlight of my day? I firmly believe in this daily habit and I share that belief with all of my coaching clients and those who attend my trainings. But I don’t always make the most of that activity. Sometimes I just go through the motions and “pencil whip” the process. That sounds pretty hypocritical. I tell people how important it is and yet there are days when I’m not very intentional about the practice. In reality, the longer I talk about it and the more I engage in my reflection time, the more thoughtful it becomes. I start asking how I can make the process better. Is there a place or time of day that would help me truly become more reflective so my growth can be accelerated?

Some people wait until they get a certain feeling to act while others act their way into feeling a certain way. What kind of person will you be? As you begin to plan for an exciting New Year, why not decide how you will grow and change? Make a plan and start thinking and speaking to the changes you are making. It may start out feeling somewhat hypocritical, but in no time at all, it will be an authentic part of the new you.

What kind of changes will you be making? I can’t wait to hear about them.