
The Mirror Test
What are your values?
In Managing Oneself is the German ambassador to London’s mirror story.
“I refuse to see a pimp in the mirror in the morning when I shave!”
Allegedly this is what he said in justification of declining an invitation to a naughty party by womanizing king Edward VII.
We each have value systems. This is the mirror test: who do you want to see when you look in the mirror? Or more commonly on the reflection of your computer screen.
Ethics are a subset of value systems.
I’ll set the precedent and tell you some things I think I value, I may also have unconscious values:
Perseverance
Compassion
Self-Knowledge
Ambition
Value
When I am in line with my values I like who I see in the mirror. When I don’t I’m avoiding mirrors.
I extend the mirror test from not only who you see, but who would you like to see?
Which organizations share your values?
And perhaps more importantly, who are you thinking about when you look in the mirror? Who do you want to reflect well on?
You are the mirror for people around you.
Reflect.
