Last week, over coffee, a friend and I enjoyed a very in depth discussion around leadership and what it means to be a leader. We both agreed that leadership is all about influence, and one of the greatest ways to influence others, is through setting an example. At that stage, my friend shared with me a very interesting story from a number of years ago that demonstrates this point very well, albeit not in the way you would expect.
It is a story about a leader who focussed on & said one thing, whilst doing something in complete contrast. This leader was a senior executive at a large Australian organisation which was going through some challenging times – their revenue and market share was dropping and company profits were shrinking, so the focus was on reducing costs and seeking ways to drive efficiencies. As the story goes, this senior executive became laser focussed on cost reduction, to the point where he was suggesting to his people that they think twice before purchasing new pens, look at cheaper options for copying paper and stationery, and look at reducing costs for various other supplies within the business, including tea and coffee, paper towel, and even toilet paper. To the people within the business, this approach seemed to be rational and logical, and they were happy to oblige, until they discovered that this senior executive continued to drive his extremely expensive sports car to and from work each day, which by the way, was 100% funded by the company! Now you may argue that the cost of running 1 car is but a small percentage of the company’s overall costs compared to the larger volumes and costs such as supplies and stationery, and you would be correct. However, from a leadership perspective, this senior executive was sending a potentially conflicting message to his people, which could have been interpreted as ‘do as I say, not as I do’. In other words, this leader was not walking his talk!
This was a fascinating conversation, and it prompted each of us to ask the question of ourselves – ‘as a Leader, am I walking my talk?’. I’ll ask you the same question – ‘as a Leader, are you walking your talk?’ Is there a congruence between the requests you make of your people, the instructions you give them, and the actions you take? Of the requests you make of your people, do you make the same requests of yourself? I hope so! Remember, your people are watching your every move and listening to every single thing you say ; they are also watching everything you do not do, and listening even more intently to the things you do not say! Whether they are consciously aware of this or not, each of your people are constantly asking themselves 2 questions in relation to you as their leader :
1 Do you care about me?
2 Can I trust you?
If the answer to either of these 2 questions is ‘no’, then typically you have not yet earned the right to lead them, and you are probably not ‘walking your talk’. Whether you like it or not, you are a role model, and how you turn up each day and act will have a direct bearing on your ability to lead (therefore influence), and ultimately affect the level of success and engagement of your people.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself around your leadership that may assist you in identifying whether you are in fact walking your talk, or whether there are a few gaps that need filling :
• What is important to you? What do value around leadership and your team, and what do you believe in? Are these values and beliefs important to your team? Are they congruent?
• What standards do you expect from your team? For example, do you expect your team to always turn up early to meetings, and yet you are sometimes late? Do you expect your team to return your phone calls the same day, and yet you sometimes forget to call them back? Are the standards you expect from your team consistent with your own standards and what you expect of yourself? If the answer is not ‘yes’, there is a gap that needs filling.
• Do you create space for your team and make yourself available, or are you too ‘busy’? Do you make 1:1 meetings with your people a priority, or do you consistently miss the catch ups or constantly re-schedule them?
• Do you manage your own agenda, or are you at the mercy of your management’s agenda? Do you have the ability to say ‘no’ where a meeting request conflicts with a committed meeting with your team or one of your direct reports? Prioritising meetings with your team and your people can have a exceptionally empowering impact on them, and therefore on your leadership. Bear in mind also that it may take courage on your part to say ‘no’ to your management!
• Do you talk about a coaching & development culture and yet spend very little time actually coaching & developing?
• When things don’t go according to plan, do you lean in and take responsibility or do you seek to blame others and search for the scapegoat? And when things go exactly to plan (or even better than to plan), do you step back and allow others to be in the limelight, or do you seek to be at centre of all of the accolades? Leadership is about taking responsibility for when things go wrong, and stepping into the background when things go right – that is walking your talk.
• How do you show up every day? Are you consistent and predictable, or are your people having to guess which character you are playing, whether it be Jekyll or Hyde?
As leaders, we can never under estimate the affect we can have on our people through our words and actions – whether the words and actions are consistent with each other, or completely inconsistent. What I have found though, is that when you can develop a consistency between your words and actions, when you do walk your talk, these things happen :
• You create an environment which is capable of sustained success
• You create consistent standards which are predictable, easy to follow, and easy to measure
• There is structure within your environment, which can provide your people with clear direction
• People are more engaged, and more inclined to come along with you on the journey.
• People are more empowered and energised, and will take decisive action.
• The end result is the results will improve, you will develop a high performing culture, your influence will increase, as will the trust and respect your people have for you.
So, again, ask yourself the question “Am I walking my talk?” If the answer is ‘yes’, congratulations, keep doing more of that. If the answer is ‘no’, understand that all is not lost, and that with a few tweaks, along with some focussed action, you can turn it around rather quickly, and convert the ‘no’ into a resounding ‘yes’ within a relatively short period of time.
Walk you talk, and may you enjoy continued leadership success.
Darren
Are you seeking to increase your influence? Click this link to download a FREE copy of my eBook “Lead With Influence – The 7 Strategic Keys to Unleash Your Sales Leadership Potential”.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter or Facebook.
About : Darren is an Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker. A passionate and driven individual specialising in personal development, strategic planning, coaching for advocacy & enhanced performance, situational and servant based leadership, executive coaching of people leaders, emerging leaders and ‘high potential’ individual contributors within the Enterprise & Government market, personal change management, and strategic workshop facilitation & training.
