You have heard the proverb “cheaters never prosper.” Whadda load!
I listened to this podcast the other day where the speaker shared a tale from his youth. Picture this scene: Ninth grade on the JV basketball squad. The coach, trustful soul that he was, would leave the gym and let the players run laps on their own. Some of those boys gave up early, but not our future podcaster! After all, he reasoned, what kind of person would he be if he cheated?
The podcaster went on to preach about the supposed benefits of not cheating. He claimed that the only path to success is through adhering to the rules. He argued that athletic greatness was only achieved through rigorous honesty. His assurances, though, are belied by the fact that he never actually made the varsity squad despite his scruples. I will bet you, however, that some of those quitters made the team.
The podcaster proceeded to relate how, as a boss, if you cheat or lie, you will lose the respect of your people and tend to attract cheaters and liars to your side. All true. But he concludes that you cannot then succeed.
That conclusion depends on the meaning of “success,” though, right? If he means you will fail as a boss, that is absolutely not true. You will fail as a leader and as a decent human, sure. You may even lose your immortal soul if you believe in such things. But fail professionally? Nah.
Virtue Rewarded
Let’s go back in time to the eighteenth century to witness the epic battle between two heavyweight British novelists.
In this corner is Samuel Richardson and his popular novel called Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. In it, a pretty, young servant girl fends off her employer’s persistent sexual advances. Eventually, because she is so chaste and despite her low station, he decides she would make a dandy wife. Thus, her grand prize is to marry her rich, would-be rapist. Woo-hoo! Virtue rewarded!
In this corner, is satirist Henry Fielding. Fielding was appalled by Richardson’s story and wrote a parody entitled Shamela. In his version, the girl schemes to sexually entrap her employer, who is a numbskull, into marriage. Fielding’s satire exposes the moral flaws of Richardson’s novel.
Shamela, by the way, is a hoot to read and all the more fun if you suffered through Pamela. It’s Fielding in a knockout!
Why do I bring up the stories of the young basketball player and the clash of eighteenth-century novelists? Simple. While I do not condone and, in fact, abhor cheating, cheaters often, maybe even most often, succeed. While virtue is rarely rewarded, cheating commonly is.
Let me offer a tale from my high school years. My Catholic boys’ school was sick with academic dishonesty. During tests, you could see kids sneaking peeks at answers written on their palms or hiding tiny crib sheets. Some even demanded help from others. I had this one buddy who was expert at poaching the best answers from everyone sitting around him. He would then boast when he was the only one who aced the test!
It gets worse. When I saw the list of the top ten students in our graduating class, I was flabbergasted. Nearly all of them had cheated their way onto that list.
As for me, I was somewhere way down in the middle of the pack. I was no cheater. I earned my mediocrity honestly. That truth is small consolation, though, when those college acceptances and scholarships are rolled out.
So, here's my point once again. Cheaters very often do prosper
I am sure you know someone, actually many someones, who cheated their way to success. You even know people who were exposed as cheaters yet continue to enjoy rewards. And let’s not forget those corporations that scammed their way into growth and prosperity. Oh, and I will bet — whatever your political persuasion — you believe that at least one of the recent presidents of the United States got into the White House through cheating to some degree or other.
Cheating pays dividends, my friend, even after your caught. It happens all the time.
A while back, I wrote about how bad is stronger than good. In a toe-to-toe battle, bad has the advantage because it can and will use any means necessary. Good cannot. Bad can sucker punch, kick, wield weapons, or even gang up. All the while good is dancing around with two fists up looking for a good clean match governed under the Marquess of Queensbury Rules. Cheating is a distinct advantage.
Yes, you can succeed by cheating. Your cheating may get you far, perhaps very far. Not cheating may even hold you back. If you choose to be an honest leader, some people will admire your integrity, but others will call you naive and try to take advantage. In the end, though, all you have is your integrity, and knowing that it is solid and whole brings a strange sort of comfort in a world that worships material gain and status. In that sense, virtue must serve as its own reward.
The bottom line is that if you cheat, lie, or cut corners, you may succeed, maybe even wildly. But every morning when you look in the mirror, who stares back? A cheater. If you can live with that, so be it. Go ahead and scale the mountain, soar to great heights, be king of the world! You scumbag.
I want nothing to do with you.
How often do you condone your own or others’ corner-cutting? In contrast, what do you do to prevent it?
Great leaders find ways to succeed through rigorous honesty, and I can help.
If you want to learn more about how to become a great leader in this world of bad bosses, visit GuidanceForGreatness.com.
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