Good leaders lead by example. By aligning their actions with what they say, they become a person others want to follow. When leaders say one thing but do another, they create confusion and stress. More important, they erode trust, a critical element of productive endeavors. You don’t have to be the “Boss” to be a leader. Here are just 10 of the dozens of ways anyone can lead by example:
1: Take responsibility. Blame costs you credibility, keeps team members on the defensive and ultimately sabotages real growth.
2: Be truthful. Inaccurate representation affects everyone. Show that honesty really IS the best policy.
3: Be courageous. Be the first one to walk through the “fire” or crisis. Take calculated risks that demonstrate commitment to a larger purpose.
4: Acknowledge failure. It makes it OK for your teammates to do the same and defines setting stretch goals and sometimes failing as a key element in the process of becoming extraordinary.
5: Be persistent. Try, try again. Go over, under or around any hurdles to show that obstacles don’t define you or your team.
6: Create solutions. Don’t dwell on problems; instead see everything as an opportunity and be the first to offer solutions and then invite more from your team.
7: Listen. Ask questions. Seek to understand. You’ll receive valuable insights and set a tone that encourages healthy dialogue.
8: Collaborate freely and delegate liberally. Promote an atmosphere in which people join forces to leverage their individual core strengths.
9: Take care of yourself. Exercise, don’t overwork, take a break. A balanced team, mentally and physically, is a successful team. Model it, encourage it, support it!
10: Roll up your sleeves. Demonstrate the depth of your own commitment and you’ll inspire greatness in others.
Author’s content adapted under license, © 2011 Claire Communications
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About djwlifecoach
I am retired from 40+ years of helping individuals and teams build lives and organizations they love. One of the great joys of my retirement from professional practice is having greater bandwidth to donate my professional and creative talents to support and promote animal and social welfare charities.
During my 30 years as an organization transformation consultant, I served as a senior partner in four of the world’s largest, most prestigious global professional services firms. In 2005, I took a five-year sabbatical to find healing and peace because non-stop work had taken its toll.
My recovery from burnout led to finding my purpose guiding others on their journeys. As a board-certified coach, author, consultant, radio host, Reiki Master and EFT/tapping practitioner, I share hope, possibilities and empowerment with the world.
111419 DJW Sid CH Pet Corner Photo ShootI help clients achieve rapid, extraordinary, sustainable results by connecting who they are with what they do, a connection often lost through stress and the sheer busy-ness of daily life. Courageous self-awareness and unconditional self-love lead to honest choices based on priorities that nurture you and those around you on a journey to wholeness.
Decades in coaching, consulting, change management, organization development, human resources and mixed media artistic expression honed my business sense, professionalism, creativity, intuition, leadership and communication skills. The result? Practical tools that help you become more insightful, creative, committed, productive and fulfilled.
Even the most dedicated and hard-working individuals can shift from frustration to a sense of futility when their values, passion, work, and lives become disconnected. One of the problems with not taking care of our health is that the effects of ignoring it are often slow to show up. We continue to juggle family responsibilities, work and finances until we lose ourselves, waking up one day 50 pounds heavier in body and soul—no good to ourselves or anyone else.
I love working with people who are ready to take life-changing action to make their dreams a reality. At each moment, you have inside you all the wisdom you seek to choose your life and your way of showing up. Limiting thoughts, beliefs and feelings can block you from moving forward. An absence of love and concern for yourself can result in negative head talk that holds you back with discouraging messages about who you are and what you can do.
By listening and caring deeply, I guide you in connecting with your own inner wisdom. We identify the way you’d like to live. We determine what’s blocking you and release you from the hold those blocks have over you—unleashing the positive energy that will fuel you forward. Together we develop a plan to move you closer to your heart’s desire.
My books, blog, radio show and signature coaching programs help individuals and organizations harness the transformative energy of love to turn unexplored possibilities into fulfilling realities and step into their greatness. What’s love got to do with it? Everything! My book, Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! (Hay House/ Balboa Press 2013) shares my story and the stories of 10 of my clients along with my signature Discovery Framework.
For fun, I love reading, sewing, knitting, yin yoga, afternoon tea, opera and movies. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia with my spouse, Wilson Abney, and the cat who runs our life, Maisy Jane.
Good leaders lead by example. By aligning their actions with what they say, they become a person others want to follow. When leaders say one thing but do another, they create confusion and stress. More important, they erode trust, a critical element of productive endeavors. You don’t have to be the “Boss” to be a leader. Here are just 10 of the dozens of ways anyone can lead by example:
Choose Your Energy: Change Your Life! 