Skip to main content

Leadership By Doing - Setting An Example

Do do you lead by example?

There was a colleague of mine who used to tell everyone on his team to stay late, and then leave promptly at 5:30 p.m. There is also the typical manager who criticizes everyone for spending time on the Internet, but is discovered shopping online during working hours. We also may have come across finance teams who advise austerity but then splurge on something else

Do you know any of these people?

One of the worst aspects for sagging company morale are leaders who practice the "I dont walk the talk" approach. When this happens, you can almost see the loss of enthusiasm and goodwill among the teams and being replaced by cynicism

No matter what the situation is, double standards - witnessing people say one thing, and then doing another - always are big let downs. If this ever happened to you, you can probably remember that sense of disappointment and letdown.

If you're in a leadership position, then you know that you have a responsibility to your team. They look to you for guidance and strength; that's part of what being a leader is. And a big part of your responsibility is to lead them with your own actions.

There's an old saying about the difference between a manager and a leader: "Managers do things right. Leaders do the right things."

As a leader, part of your job is to inspire and motivate the people around you to push themselves - and, in turn, the company - to greatness. To do this, you must show them the way by doing it yourself.

So here's wishing all of you success and walking the talk ....

Comments

Sundar said…
I agree whole-heartedly Anand. for the past 2 years, I can humbly say I have exemplified dedication and hard work. I treat my business as a baby that needs to be cared for 18 hours per day. The rest of the 6 hours, it is left with a nanny :)

My team sees me put in effective, efficient 14-16 hrs per day and i have repeatedly heard from them "When do you sleep, man?" :)

Popular posts from this blog

Need Solutions Not Problems - Your Mantra For 2010

Happy new year 2010. The thought for today's blog came from my experience standing in a queue of a fairly respected retail chain. The queues were long and the number of check out counters were minimal as usual ;=) ( I think a lesson in queuing theory is warranted for all retail chain outlets I think ;=) ), anyways, the line moves on and suddenly stops .. I enquire and they say that there is a system problem, I nod my head and wait on, after some time its my turn at the check out counter and the sales clerk gets a phone call ( presumably from a friend as she was smiling and talking) while I the customer was waiting ... finally I got my good paid for and went up and met the store manager who was standing there and indicated as to why he did not open more counters ... he started moaning about the workers he had and about his manager and that nobody pays attention etc etc etc and I quickly exited from the store. That got me thinking how many of us encourage our teams to come to us with...

Acceptance

I have been wanting to pen my thoughts for a long time, more around sharing some perspective I have but more around sharing what I have learnt. Acceptance is key for success in life and also in corporate life. I have seen so many individuals fighting againts accepting what has been laid down and often causing harm to themselves mentally and physically. I am not saying lie down and accept what is being handed out but know when the cause you are fighting for is a lost cause or you are fighting against odds which have been stacked against you.  why not just embrace what is offered to you if you see that as a fair deal and let live ? Examples of acceptance at the workplace could be : your manager behaves in a rude manner and does not give you the respect you feel you deserve, just accept the fact that he/she is that way and make peace with yourself and look at the choices and options you have around this.  you could choose to move out if you plan that but if you do stay, do not grumble and...