Do you lead by example?
Did you know that every time you speak but don’t act on you word you are marring your personal image, your personal branding. You may ask how does that happen?
In daily walks of life – how many times do you hear, I will get that done by tomorrow, or we should meet for dinner or coffee or I’m here if you want my help anytime.
In the office, there’s the boss who tells every one to stay late, and then leaves promptly at 5:00pm for a golf game. There’s the CEO who tells the organization to buy into his vision of the future and the Co. though he is planning his exit strategy. And the CEO who recommends cutting employee benefits and institutes a new rule that every client entertainment requires pre-approval but then buys brand-new luxury office furniture for his cabin and travels on the garb of an official trip and combines a vacation with that trip.
Do you recognize any of these people? What is common in all these people
Don’t you think the over promising and under-delivery. Not leading by example?
Loyalty and commitment to our word is not a sign of being plain silly or emotional. It is a sign of strength and consistency.
The first key to greatness is to be in reality what they appear to be – Socrates
Why do some just talk & not act?
1. Change tends to happen whether people want it or not, and this can be upsetting. People are often quite uncomfortable with change, for all sorts of reasons. This can lead them to resist it and oppose it. They may say one thing to get over a situation at that moment and not plan to act on their word.
2. The inability to say ‘No’ to anyone
3. There are yet others who over promise either to get brownie points or on account of lack of planning and under deliver.
Every time you over commit who do you think gets hurt the most ? None other than ‘You’
So why is it so important to lead by example; and what happens when you don’t?
Think about those people who have inspired you and why you have been inspired by them?
Some of the common examples may be Martin Luther King or Gandhi. Why? Their action was living proof of their talk.
We’ve seen just how powerful it can be to lead by example from some of those whom we have been inspired. But what happens when your video is not in sync with your audio?.
Consequences – Each time you fail to honor a commitment you chip away at the bonds between you and the people who have trusted you or lent their hand in friendship .
There’s hardly anything worse for company morale than leaders who practice the “Do as I say, not as I do” philosophy. When this happens, you can almost see the loss of enthusiasm and goodwill among the staff.
No matter what the situation is, double standards – witnessing people say one thing, and then doing another – always feels like betrayals. They can be very destructive. If this ever happened to you, you can probably remember that sense of disappointment and letdown.
Strategy– Your values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. They (should) determine your priorities, and, deep down, they’re probably the measures you use to tell if your life is turning out the way you want it to.
If you ask a co-worker to do something, make sure you’d be willing to do it yourself. If you implement new rules for the office, then follow those rules just as closely as you expect everyone else to follow them. For example, if the new rule is “not to use mobile phones in the office, then make sure you don’t use your mobile in the office. You’ll be seen as dishonest, and your staff may become angry and start disobeying you. Look closely at your own behavior. If you criticize people for interrupting, but you constantly do it yourself, you need to fix this. Yes, you want people to pay attention to one another and listen to all viewpoints, so demonstrate this yourself.
What is required to Lead By Example – Commitment, Integrity, Responsibility, Honesty, Respect, Courage, Ethics. Please watch my video on the 7 elements of lead by example.
Why undervalue yourself when you can be your best friend. Your personal brand is your word and your action. Don’t undermine it.
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