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Leading By Example Leaders have no choice about setting an example. But they have a great deal of choice in the kind of example they do set. Putting stakes in the ground about important values -- and then living by them -- is essential for leadership. It builds credibility. When a leaders words and deeds are inconsistent, people feel betrayed, and their belief in and loyalty to that leader is lost. The word credibility comes from the root word credo that means I believe. The word credit has the same root. When people check your credit, they are trying to determine if your promise to pay is believable. Our friends Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner (authors of The Leadership Challenge), state that credibility is the foundation of leadership. People must believe in the leader before they will follow. Quite simply, leaders who have clear values, clearly communicate them, and truly live by them are seen by their followers as credible. By the way, if you wonder how important credibility is, think about what is happening right now with the revelation that the FBI has apparently lied about setting off incendiary devices during their siege at Waco a couple of years ago. How clear are your values, really? Are they rock solid - or easily compromised? Do you profess certain values because they are popular or expected - or because you deeply believe in them? These are important questions. You need to honestly deal with them and get feedback from others about them. It is easy to believe that you walk your talk, but do the people you are attempting to lead agree with you. Read the following case study about golfing legend and Ryder Cup record-holder, Nick Faldo, and his brush with this years selection process. Think about role modeling as you answer the questions. You may want to discuss these as a team. Although this is a sports related story, you do not have to know much about golf to draw some lessons from it. Faldo Being Left Off Team Nick Faldo is being left off this year's Ryder Cup team, ending his streak of 11 straight appearances. Team captain Mark James told Faldo, whose 11 appearances and 23 match wins are Ryder Cup records, that he wouldn't be a wild-card selection when the European side is announced today. I bumped into Mark in the hotel last night and asked him. He said I was too far down the ladder," a dejected Faldo said. Colin Montgomerie, Europe's top golfer of the 1990s, said Faldo should be on the team that faces the United States Sept. 24-26 in Brookline, Mass. "The team that plays in Brookline will be weaker without Nick," Montgomerie said. "I would pick him - yes." The two are playing the BMW Open in Munich, where European players are scrambling to qualify for the 12-man team. Faldo was angry that James didn't inform him he had no chance when the two were at the PGA Championship last week. Source: Cincinnati Enquirer, August 22, 1999
Remember: it is much easier to live your values when times are good. But people are watching you all the time, and it is in the difficult times that your credibility will likely be tested the most. Let us hear from you about your progress and your questions (use the message board on this website). And don't ever underestimate how powerful a message your actions send. Click here for last month's lesson: Enabling and Empowering Others
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