Leadership

The Importance of Going First in Leadership

By October 12, 2020 No Comments

“Do what I say, not as I do!”

I heard this tongue-in-cheek phrase many times over the years and it describes what poor leaders often model.

If you want to become a GREAT leader, you must first do what you’re asking your followers to do. In essence, you must “walk the talk.”

In our competitive world, people won’t follow leaders for long who don’t model what they’re asking their followers to say, be, or do. It’s inauthentic and it lacks integrity. There is a fine line between doing too much of what you need your followers to execute and not doing enough.

For instance, you need to pick up the trash in your company parking lot if you see it, but you don’t need to be the custodian.

People are desiring to follow authentic leaders with integrity. When you do what you say and follow through on your commitments, you build trust and credibility. When you don’t, you quickly lose trust and credibility, which leads to low engagement of your team members and may cause them to look elsewhere for a new job opportunity.

People leave organizations for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is the mistrust of their supervisors. More money can certainly cause people to move on, but many people are willing to earn less if they are in an environment that is positive, gives them a healthy work/life balance, and where they can follow a leader whom they respect.

While you may not be able to predict or control why people leave, make sure you’re not the reason!

Take a few moments to reflect on your current leadership approach.

Are you modeling how you want your followers to work?

Are you acting with integrity each day?

Are you walking the talk?

There is no perfect leader, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re falling short. However, use these questions to set your baseline for improvement.

Develop a rhythm of personal evaluation so you can make sure you’re growing and leading with integrity.

Be bold enough to ask your team members about the blind spots they may see in your leadership.

Tell them that you need their feedback so you can be better for your team and organization.

Give them permission to be truth-tellers if you get off-track without negative recourse for their courageous honesty.

Wherever you are in your leadership development, you have the opportunity to improve every day.

Evaluate yourself today and begin your journey to the next level.

Until next time, make today GREAT!

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