Credibility in the absence of an audience...

It's funny, because credibility is something that can be created by so many different actions - but it can be equally undermined by behaviours and attitudes which are often overlooked.

There are the obvious examples - putting them into our frame of reference, it can be pretty hard asking someone to "eat properly" when we're sitting there stuffing garbage in our faces. Or to give someone a hard time about drinking on the weekend, when we were sitting there knocking back beers with them.

However, stepping up and doing something that you yourself only do when you feel people are watching, or because others are doing it, can be equally undermining.

To use an example from a couple of weeks ago:

"Critical Mass". For those of you who are unfamiliar with this movement, essentially it's a protest against those of us who use our cars. A large number of people grab a bike, and ride en masse, blocking up intersections and delaying traffic, for anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes at a time. As a former "long-haired son of Jesus" (as I was so affectionately called back in my days of tree-hugging, jam circles and plaid-wearing), I can appreciate the sentiment, and I'm all for a peaceful protest. BUT: from what I can tell, most of these yahoos aren't real cyclists. Unlike myself, and Josh, and anyone else who rides regularly, or actually DOES commute on a bike, these jackasses are, generally speaking, the same people who take their cruiser bikes on the seawall one Saturday a summer, and come dangerously close to hitting pedestrians. In fact, in a twist of irony, I was riding home and got stuck behind a bunch of these idiots after the protest - they actually were slowing me down ON MY BIKE, because they were weaving all over the road, riding bikes that were barely (if at all) road-worthy (and not a helmet among them), and a few of them even drinking beer from the stupid basket on their handlebars.

So the next time you are trying to hold someone accountable, or trying to motivate them to change, ask yourself how well you represent what you are trying to get them to do? This becomes more than credibility - it becomes a question of integrity.

Not only do you practice what you preach - but do you practice what you preach when nobody's watching...?