How do you behave when no one is watching?

It was a freezing cold night and the Filey lifeboat crew gathered for their latest training session. There were very few people around to witness the dedication of these volunteer life savers. The training sessions are all about developing the skills of the crew to save lives, not about getting donations.

For those of you who watched the recent series of Saving Lives at Sea, you would be forgiven for thinking the rescues the RNLI make are easy. That’s the key of course, making it look easy. However, behind every rescue there are hours and hours of training and practice. Even when it’s cold, dark and there’s no one around to watch, the training takes place.

This got me thinking about what defines us. Maybe it’s how we behave when no one is around to see that defines us. Maybe it’s the things we do that we don’t have to do that defines us. For example, at work, do you always focus on standards or is it too much effort when the boss isn’t around? Outside of work, do you regularly donate to charity or do you only donate when colleagues or others can see your donation? What is it you do that defines you as a person?

For the guys on the Filey lifeboat, they’re willing to run a practice session on a dark winter night and head off into a freezing North Sea. They don’t need anyone to watch them, and they don’t have to volunteer.