Consistency is “acting in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate”. Through this, you can gain people's trust, people that come into contact with you can be sure that they won’t experience any unpredictable shifts or seismic changes that will affect their goals. In today’s day in age it is very difficult to be consistent. People face pressures from all directions; their job, their family and their community. It is challenging to keep the same persona in all three of those realms. Even if ones mannerisms alter in those scenarios, it is paramount for one to keep consistent in their values and ethos.
Former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, had a reputation for consistency. She was a stubborn lady in the pursuit of her clear targets. Thatcher was once asked to perform a U- turn over a certain policy, she replies, “you turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning”. There are multiple examples of her consistency, she didn’t give in when IRA terrorists went on a hunger strike. She won the long battle with Britain’s striking coal miners. The IRA stopped the hunger strike and the miners went back to work. Many would argue with these decisions. I do not intend to bring Thatcher as an example of a political idol, rather as a leader who refined the art of consistency. It was in fact her consistency that got her ousted by her own party in regards to the Poll Tax decision in the 1990s. Whilst many of Thatcher’s decisions did not did not sit well with the general public, there is no doubt that one of the ingredients of her recipe for success was her consistency.
Over the last few weeks I have had the chance to meet and talk to a variety of leaders. I was privileged enough to attend the Tribe Chief Rabbi's Shabbaton earlier this month. The Chief Rabbi spoke about a variety of topics over the weekend, focusing primarily on the importance of community. What struck me most was the fact that he was speaking to well over 100 teenagers, all from different backgrounds, on different gap year programmes, many going in different directions. However, the answers that the Chief Rabbis gave in his Q & A were consistent, they were not tailored to a particular group or individual, his words spoke to each person in the room. This is what it means to have a consistent message, it allows you to connect to a diverse group of people because consistency in belief demands respect. When you gain ones respect, you have immediately built yourself a platform to express your ideas.
It is very important to come across as being consistent, however, some Jewish scholars argued for paramountcy of your internal beliefs reflecting what you do. In Tractate Berachot, 28a, the Gemara says כל תלמיד שאין תוכו כברו - לא יכנס לבית המדרש, “any student whose insides are not like his outside, may not enter the hall of study”. This was the standard that Rabbi Gamliel demanded his students to maintain. Nevertheless, when Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah took over as leader of the institution, this policy was rescinded and the study hall was open to everyone. Rabbi Gamliel went back on his word and said that “G-d forbid he should withheld Torah from any Jew”. From this story in the Talmud, we can learn that whilst it was clearly important to Rabbi Gamliel for an individual to be consistent in what he does and what he believes, it does not override the ability to learn Torah. We should all strive for consistency, however, as a leader (like Rabbi Gamliel) it is simply a requirement.
We must ask ourselves the question. Do we want to be leaders or do we want to follow? Whilst it is important to look up to someone, we must ensure that we determine our own principles and ideologies, once we have established those, there is a huge value in our thoughts being expressed by our words. I recently asked Rabbi Benovitz (managing director of NCSY), what is the best way for a Madrich/Leader to teach a message in an informal environment? He explained that the most effective way of teaching is not to teach, it is to do. He developed the idea and said that there is an indirect way of educating which is entrenched in the example that you set. The message that I took out from this is that being inconsistent doesn’t only damage you as an individual, but it can damage others around you by distorting their picture of the correct ways to act.
It is clear to me that a prime example of the trait of consistency was Yoni. He was someone that had his values set in stone. He believed in the value of education and spreading knowledge. Believing in that didn’t make Yoni unique. What made him exceptional was the fact that he gave up interrailing with his friends so he could invest time into making assemblies for schools. Being consistent in what he said on the outside and what he did behind closed doors makes Yoni a role model for me and the thousands of school kids that the Yoni Jesner Foundation has impacted.
I think that we can take the example that Yoni set, along with that of many great leaders around us to internalise the importance of being consistent in what we do and what we say.
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