Do you want to be by your teams side when they succeed, or be the reason that they fail? By being an inspiring leader, you let your team know what’s possible and you can be a shining example. Staff respond better to a leader who is willing to get their hands dirty and feel that their leader is ready to battle along with them. Leaders achieve this response through their leadership authenticity and leading by example. While many leaders aspire to this status, they fall short because they do not realize what a powerful leadership tool it is to have your staff emulate your examples. To find out how you can achieve this, below are a list of questions to ask yourself as a leader to find out if you lead by example.
What is leading by example?
I stumbled across a quote by John Wooden, a successful basketball player turned coach for the University of California. He excelled at quotable leadership lines, but one that struck me was:
Wow. That is some truth right there.
When I reflect on my own leadership, I ask myself the same questions to find out if I lead by example. As leaders, we go through lots of additional courses and seminars to learn how to improve. At the end of the day, the choices that we make as our own personal example that resonates with the employees.
Essentially, you can take every leadership seminar available to you, and they will be a waste of time. Your team will not be behind you if you do not walk the walk too.
This habit likely goes to the authenticity you display as a leader. No one can be authentic if they are pretending to be someone else or fit someone else’s idea of what a real leader looks like. By letting those around you see a bit of the real you – you transfer credibility, humility, and trust to your team.
Authentic leadership is only one type of leadership style. Often, leaders are a mix of several different types, to find out what other leadership style you may be, read more here.
Ask yourself these questions to find out if you lead by example
It cannot be overstated – your team will not walk beside you if they do not feel that you are being authentic and are not willing to lead by example.
When you read over these questions, be honest with yourself, no one else is watching! You may realize that you have some of the skills, but wouldn’t you be more effective if you had the full set?
Answer these questions honestly with yourself to find out if you are leading by example.
Do I ask my team to perform a task that I would not do, or have not done myself?
“When I was in my team member’s role, was this asked of me?” If yes, great! Go ahead and share a personal anecdote about your time spent doing this activity. It lets the team know that not every task is easy or glamorous, but you were once there too.
Just remember, you are in your leadership role because you are a high achiever and not everyone is always up for a new exciting challenge in their career. You may need to support it and sell it to the team a bit.
Do you lead with both heart and a long term plan?
You need to rule with both your heart and your head. Ever get that knot in your stomach when weighing out decisions? That is part of your ethics meter ringing. Although we cannot always avoid this feeling, as often as you possibly can, trust the gut meter.
Do you advocate for your team with your superiors, even if there is disagreement?
Employees will have a higher followership toward a leader who will “go to bat” for them with their superiors to get the team what they need. This is especially powerful if they pursue something they know is right, even if unpopular with senior leadership.
Do you demonstrate a passion for what you do?
If you don’t seem to care, why should your employees?
Have I assessed what my strengths and weaknesses are as a leader?
We all have different strengths and weaknesses. They change over time as we grow, and face new challenges as a leader. To assess your strengths and weaknesses as a leader, it’s time to do a SWOT analysis – on your own leadership skills and abilities!
Do you behave the same way at work as you do with your family and friends?
This is the trickiest part of authentic leadership to navigate. It is a balance of letting staff see your life, and remaining professional.
Do you take responsibility for your actions? Failures included?
Taking ownership of your actions gives confidence to your staff that they too can take risks and not suffer significant consequences. When you let staff know that they are safe with you to practice outside of their comfort zone because you will back them up, both you and the employee will be surprised with what you can accomplish.
Do you listen with the intention to respond or to understand?
Easily my biggest short coming as a leader. I need to work on this, because there is evidence that employee perception of your listening skills is much higher when they are the ones doing most of the talking. You get the benefit of delivering seemingly well thought through advice if you take the time to listen, then think, and respond.
Overall, do not discount the leadership super tool of leading by example. By being an inspiring leader, you get the opportunity to take your team to new levels of success.