I see this happening day in day out. I was a major culprit of this. One minute you'd be nice as pie to someone's face and next minute you'd be slagging them off as soon as they turned the corner.
What I didn't realise at the time was how destructive this way of thinking was to me. It meant that I was just as bad as everyone else.
Many of us are quick to judge and to point the finger and try and shift blame. We'll spend lots of time complaining and bad mouthing other people. But is that the best way of solving the situation.
What happens if that becomes normal for you?
I see and hear so many people that think they practice what they preach. The funniest one was I was giving a talk to a room of about 100 or so people. Post the talk I had about 15 -20 people come and ask me questions at the end. Everyone formed a queue and waited their turn. One person was waiting all be it for five minutes. They were getting agitated and annoyed that they had to wait. This person was an Educational Psychologist, and they teach others apparently how to manage themselves. They couldn't control themselves in a queue. I found it bad because they are meant to be experts in this field of management of one's self.
Anyway, many people who claim to be good people will operate soundly only when in a particular environment. I've been ignored, bypassed and avoided by "good people." It's because they practice one thing in one place and something different elsewhere. Their perception of who they are, how they operate and what they do isn't inline. All this does is dilute the good work they're trying to do.
If you want to abide by a principle, you have to stick to it in all environments. Many people find it easy to apply things when everything is going well. When the pressure is applied most people fold, get emotional, upset, stressed or angry. How does this help you?
Remember you always have a choice to the response you want to have.
1. Treat everyone as you'd like to be treated.
2. What you practice in one place will impact another
3. The more transparent you become, the stronger you'll be.
4. Live by example
5. Practice what you preach, even when it's exceptionally challenging.