We have all experienced it. The boss says one thing then does something else. Isn’t that irritating? Yeah—you bet! So why do YOU do the same thing to YOUR employees?
In order to reap the rewards of any new initiative, leaders and managers better be willing to ‘Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk’ whenever we want the best from our employees. This is critical when we are trying to institute a change in our employees’ behavior. Because, at the end of the day, if we can’t exhibit the desired behavior, how can we ever expect it of our employees?
Something as basic as showing up for meetings on time is crucially important. However, how many of you use the excuse when you arrive late to a meeting, “I was trapped on an important phone call?” You’re wasting everyone else’s time, but for some reason that’s OK because you’re The Boss.
If you don’t set a better example for how you expect your employees to act, they will act the way they observe is accepted and acceptable. And that may be acting like us at our less-than-best behavior: showing up late for meetings, making personal phone calls at work, gossiping about co-workers, or bad-mouthing a client. (Don’t discount how caring more about making a buck than building a relationship with your customers, can create morale, productivity, and eventually, financial problems.)
So show ‘em how it’s done. It is Leadership 101.
Demonstrate to your employees that you care about wasting their time when you are late to a meeting. How? It’s a no brainer—don’t be late. Show the employees how you expect each and every employee to treat customers and co-workers. How? Lead by example.
You gotta show ‘em. Because, if they don’t learn appropriate on-the-job behavior from you, they may just learn inappropriate on-the-job behavior from someone else—like that person (you know who I mean) you would not want teaching anybody, anything, ever.
Copyright MMII – Liz Weber, CMC, CSP – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com +1.717.597.8890
Liz supports clients with strategic and succession planning, as well as leadership training and executive coaching. Want more information? Check her out on LinkedIn!
