Too many people have personal experience with a leader who says one thing but then does another. If you say one thing and then do another, you are not demonstrating highly valued leadership behaviors such as honesty, integrity, fairness, trust, respect, dependability, and genuineness.The bottom line is that your People look to you every day for clues on how they should behave, feel, react, and act. You are their benchmark, and your actions often speak louder than your words.For that reason, it is important that you lead by example.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE?
Simply put, leading by example means showing your People what to do by doing it yourself. It means you walk the talk, practice what you preach, and do what you say.
YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO EMBRACE CHANGE
If your People resist change initiatives and want them to embrace them instead, you need to show them what it looks like. This means holding back your critiques and complaints, actively showing up with an open-minded approach, and offering to help employees find solutions instead of dwelling on problems caused by the change.
YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO RESPECT YOUR AUTHORITY
If you want your People to respect your authority, you must show them how to do so by respecting the authority of your superiors. This means not speaking negatively of them or questioning them, especially in casual or off-the-clock conversations where you think you can get away with it.
YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO GIVE YOU GRACE WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE
If you want grace when you make a mistake, you must show it when your People make a mistake. Therefore, don’t rush to point it out or chastise them for it. Instead, take the time to understand how or why the error happened and then support them in building a plan to reduce the chances of it happening again.
YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO FOLLOW DEFINED RULES AND PROCEDURES
If you want your People to follow the defined rules and procedures, you should be careful not to assume your formal authority makes you exempt from following them yourself. Instead, you should always make an effort to follow all defined rules and procedures just like everyone else and ask for help or clarification if you are unsure.
YOU WANT YOUR PEOPLE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS
It’s not enough to say you want your People to take responsibility for their actions if they don’t know what that looks like. Therefore, as the one leading, you need to model what that looks like. So, the next time a problem arises or a mistake happens, be the first one to step up and own your part in it. Explain to your employees what you could have done differently and what you plan to do going forward to limit the chances of it happening again.
Whether you like it or not, in leadership, everything you do and say is scrutinized by those around you, especially those you lead. They’re watching to see if your words match your actions, and if they don’t, they take it as a sign that your words aren’t entirely genuine or cannot be trusted. For that reason, you must lead by example and allow your actions to speak louder than words.
That’s it FOLKS 