It was never about the bike, Mr. Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong’s public admission about doping during Tour de France will go down as one of the biggest moral frauds ever committed in the history of this world. The fraud is not a one-off mistake, committed in the heat of the moment. This is a mistake that was knowingly committed, with careful planning, in consultation with top doctors, in connivance with fellow athletes and most shameful of all, in tacit consent with his own family. While doing this clandestinely, Armstrong won 7 Tour de France titles, wrote books, launched Livestrong, got sponsorships, was hailed as a poster boy for cancer survivors, and made millions of dollars to become one of the most inspiring sporting icons ever.

And all this while, he steadfastly denied doping, successfully planned his escape through stringent anti-doping tests and investigations, regularly threatened and sued his colleagues, officials as well as journalists, and did whatever it takes to bury his biggest lie, forever. But one lie led to another, and then another. To counter this, Armstrong systematically positioned himself as a socially conscious celebrity and drummed up support from millions of followers across the world who treated him as an iconic superstar and who believed that he can do no wrong.

And then, one day, God said, “Enough is enough.”

People may say that Armstrong was a liar and a cheat and a bully. But beyond all this was the real Lance Armstrong, even more dangerous than all the above. Lance Armstrong was a man without Integrity. That is what he really was, and is.

What is integrity?
Integrity means doing what is morally right, under all circumstances – during day or night, whether in a group or alone, if someone is watching or not, whether it benefits self or not and no matter what the consequences will be. Its an unimpaired, unadulterated, or genuine state of being. It is not to be confused with honesty. As someone said, honesty is the truth that you tell others. Integrity is the truth that you tell yourself.

I attended a Leadership Training Program recently and the trainer asked us what integrity meant to us. Everything from honesty, trust, faith, etc. was shot down. Then he gave us an example of 2 Trapeze Artists in Circus. He said, “Imagine these 2 guys are standing on their trapeze bars about to start their performance. And imagine that both of them hate each other. So when their performance starts, what do you expect to happen?" We all laughed at that situation. The trainer went on to say, "Nothing happens. Even if one guy has an affair with the other's wife, nothing will happen. When the performance starts, the trapeze artiste will blindly leap into mid-air with outstretched hands because he is sure to find his partner's outstretched arms awaiting him at the other end." Thats integrity.

"Couldn't fix it. Refused Money." Thats integrity.

Here's what Walter Isaacson writes about Paul Jobs, the father of Steve Jobs - "Fifty years after the fence was constructed, Jobs showed it to me, still standing and recalled a lesson about making things of quality that he learned from his father. Touching the boards of inside of the fence, he said that “He loved doing things right. He even cared about the look of the parts you couldn’t see.” He said that his father refused to use poor wood for the back of cabinets, or to build a fence that wasn’t constructed as well on the back side as it was the front. Jobs likened it to using a piece of plywood on the back of a beautiful chest of drawers. “For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.”"

Thats integrity.

Lance Armstrong had none of it. And that is what he is paying for. He looked so poor and pathetic in his interview with Oprah. He won all and he lost all. And he believes its because of his maniac desire to win at all costs. But that it is not. It was his lack of integrity. Had he had a bit of it, he would not have waited until all his colleagues testified against him and made it an open and shut case. He was the first one to dope amongst his team mates and the last one to accept it. This is not what great leaders do. But he did. Because he had no integrity. So all his discipline, fitness, hard work, social service, iconic status, sponsorships, hi-profile connections, etc. etc. had no meaning with zero integrity in his thoughts and actions.

While he spoke of his misdemeanors, his cat eyes, that looked so purposeful and determined earlier now seemed so fierce, cruel and perilous. It was Oprah who looked saddened and shocked with Armstrong's confessions, more than Armstrong himself. Maybe because, for the first time in her life, she must have come face to face with an iconic man without an ounce of integrity within him.

I feel dejected today. Many of us are. He was someone we looked up to. I just tried to re-read a few lines from his book, and I felt so overwhelmed with anger. The book deserves to be burnt. And it will be burned. If possible, I shall post a video.