Leadership Tip #21: Lead By Example
This tip, is one we were most likely first taught by our parents. After all how many of us were told by our parents to be a good example for our younger brothers or sisters? And what better time to talk about something we were taught as kids, then around the time of year when we were also told to be good for Santa?
Like being good for Santa, being a good example may be one of the things our parents taught us that we’ve discarded. Or at least, begun to take for granted. For some reason, it’s easy to underestimate or even forget that our actions really do speak louder than words. Especially in those places where we’ve found ourselves out in front of a crowd. Because being a leader means very often people are watching us in moments we don’t realize.
As leaders, it can be tempting to believe that people are only watching us when we’re in the spotlight. In situations when we’re in a meeting with them. Or in times when we’re speaking with them directly. But the truth of the matter is, they’re watching more than we think. They’re watching when:
We don’t eat anything (or anything healthy) for lunch.
We lose our temper in times of stress.
We treat someone—anyone—badly.
We take a shortcut.
We consistently come in late.
God is not the only one who sees our less than stellar moments. But because this is about our leadership, we’re talking about more than just our imperfections here. We’re talking about our expectations of others and whether we are living up to them ourselves.
If we want our staff to show up on time, we need to show up on time too. If we want our people to treat each other and the people they serve with respect, we need to do the same. And if we want them to do things the right way and not take shortcuts, then we need to make sure we’re not shortcut people.
The precedent we set for our people begins not with our words, but with our actions. Doing and being anything less than what we expect of our people, breeds confusion, discontentment, mistrust, and resentment. Overall, our actions have the ability to play a bigger role in the success or failure of our organization, than we realize.
If we want our staff to be at their best that means encouraging them to be healthy, have a good work life balance, and overall, take good care of themselves. But if we aren’t practicing self care, they won’t. If we believe we are superhuman—that we can work long hours, eat sporadically, never exercise and live on energy drinks—our team will believe they have to be superhuman too. Soon, all that will be left will be an exhausted, stressed out, and unhappy team.
How we live is how we lead.
There is no separation between us and our leadership when it comes to our character. If we want to be leaders people can trust, and leaders they want to follow, we need to work at being our best selves. We don’t need to be perfect, but we do need to hold ourselves to a higher standard. And remember, what we do and how we live matters.
Who are the people watching you?
What does leading by example look like in your context?
Are you in the midst of making a hard decision? Contemplating a big life change? If so, you may be interested in my FREE Making Changes Checklist that I give to all my email friends. Want your free copy? subscribe here.
