"Lead by Example"
(Commandment #4) from The Ten Commandments for Managers
reprinted by permission
By Greg Blencoe

"No psychological weapon is more potent than example. An executive who seeks to achieve results through the people who work under his direction must himself demonstrate at least as high a standard of performance as he hopes to get from his subordinates...When an executive's bad example or his double standards become known, morale and output plummet in his department."¹²

J. Paul Getty

Founder and former President, Getty Oil

The most effective way to teach employees how to act is through your own example. Whenever you do something, the message communicated to employees is "This is acceptable behavior."

EMPLOYEE SEE, EMPLOYEE DO

As a manager, think about all of the characteristics your perfect employee would have. For example, they would: work hard; work smart; treat customers well; show up on time every day; challenge the status quo and think of better ways to do things; work well with others; pay attention to details; dress appropriately; promptly return messages; work late if necessary; finish tasks early; do things right the first time; hold themselves accountable for their mistakes; be enjoyable to work with; have a standard of excellence; have a pleasant demeanor; be loyal; be thrifty with the company money; adhere to company policy; not miss work due to unexcused absences, and practice the company's values.

          Now, apply that standard to yourself and think about how well you live up to it.

          Do you work hard? Do you work smart? Do you treat customers well? Do you show up on time every day? Do you challenge the status quo and think of better ways to do things? Do you work well with others? Do you pay attention to details? Do you dress appropriately? Do you promptly return messages? Do you work late if necessary? Do you finish tasks early? Do you do things right the first time? Do you hold yourself accountable for your mistakes? Are you enjoyable to work with? Do you have a standard of excellence? Do you have a pleasant demeanor? Are you loyal? Are you thrifty with the company money? Do you adhere to company policy? Do you not miss work due to unexcused absences? Do you practice the company's values?

          You should never ask anybody to do anything that you are not willing to do yourself. If you do, then you are facing an uphill battle. The line "Do as I say, not as I do" should not be used by managers. You not only have to talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk. However, if you set a good example, then you will raise the bar for employees. If you act the right way, you can always trump employees who don't comply with the subtle unspoken expectation "I do it, so you should be able to do it, too."

EXAMPLES

Here are five examples that discuss the concept of leading by example:

          A large Midwestern media company faced declining profits in a recession and was forced to cut their expenses. Instead of having a large number of layoffs, the top management decided to freeze everybody's salary for a year. They also cut the salaries of the high-level managers by five percent. Even though it was tough not getting their raises, the employees understood that they had to sacrifice for the good of the company. And to have the high-level managers go beyond just getting their salaries frozen by taking a five percent cut showed that they were sacrificing along with them.

***

          I used to live in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. The post office that was closest to my house was usually very busy. You pretty much expected to wait in line for five or ten minutes whenever you went there. Most of the time, the customers were pretty patient. However, every once in a while somebody would get very upset.

          On three different occasions, I saw another customer have an "I want to speak to the manager" moment. The employee working the counter would reluctantly say "OK, hold on a second" and then go back to get the manager. Then, the employee would come back about a minute or two later and say "Sorry, the manager can't come up to the front right now." The customers, who were determined to speak their mind to the manager, would say "That's fine. I'll wait until the manager is available." The employee would respond by saying "The manager isn't going to be available any time soon." After it was clear the manager was never going to come to the counter, the customers would give up and storm out of the post office.

          It is obvious that the manager just didn't want to deal with any customers who had a problem with the post office. That behavior set a terrible example for employees. The message sent to employees was: If you don't feel like dealing with customers that have a problem with the post office, then you should just ignore them until they go away. The manager's example set a very low standard for employees to follow.

***

          Patricia Simmons has been the general manager for an upscale Seattle restaurant for the past eight years. During her time there, she has only missed work on three occasions. And each time was when she was either in the emergency room or attending to a close family member there. When employees don't show up to work in the restaurant business, it puts a tremendous burden on the rest of the staff because somebody has to do that job. Patricia fully understands this and knows that she has to set the standard for all of her employees. There have been many times when she could have stayed home, but instead she toughed it out and came to work. Because her employees know that she will always be there for them, they do their best to make it to work every time they are supposed to be there.

***

          Many years ago one of my best friends and I took a trip to New York City. During the week we were there, we made a one day side trip to Boston to visit his brother and see a mutual friend of ours. We spent the day sightseeing and got to his brother's house in the evening. Neither of us had eaten much all day so we ventured out to get a meal and decided on a take out sandwich café that was nearby.

          As we walked in, I noticed two employees just hanging out by the register talking to each other. It was forty five minutes until closing and nobody was there so they were just killing time until they could close. After I ordered, I was looking around as they made our sandwiches and noticed a piece of paper on the wall right next to the register that had the heading "If you have nothing to do, read this list." Below the heading were thirty or forty activities for employees to do such as "Sweep the floor", "Take out the garbage", "Clean the bathroom", "Wipe down the counters", etc. Then, there was a signature on the bottom of the piece of paper with the title "District Manager" below it.

          I asked one of the employees what that was all about. He said that a couple of months before then the district manager stopped by unexpectedly one night and saw a couple of employees doing nothing since there weren't any customers there. After witnessing that, the district manager immediately went back to the office, wrote up the list, and posted it by the register. I asked the employee what all of the employees thought about the list and he said "What do you think? We hate it."

          As a customer, the message I got was "Your sandwich is being made by a lazy person." That is not a message you want to communicate to customers. And from an employee's perspective, the embarrassment not only of having the sign up, but having the sign up where customers could see it, killed morale and motivation. After all, they were still doing nothing when we walked in so it was obvious their behavior didn't change. Clearly, this approach was not the correct one to take to fix the problem.

          The ultimate question is: How should that situation have been handled? In this instance, starting with a softer approach would have probably been better. The district manager should have politely greeted the employees, put his items back in the office, and then picked up a broom and started sweeping. Then, he could have said "Hey guys, could I get one of you to wipe down the counters and the other to take out the garbage? I appreciate it." By doing this, the district manager would have communicated to the employees what to do through his own example.

          Then, the district manager should have had a private conversation with the store manager the next time they met to discuss what happened. He could ask the store manager if this happens a lot. If it does, the store manager should be told in a tactful manner that the assistant managers and employees should be informed of other duties that can be done when it is not busy.

***

          The movie Saving Private Ryan is about a group of soldiers in World War II who are on a mission to save one soldier after his brothers have been killed in combat. There is a moral argument about whether or not it is fair to put the lives of several soldiers at risk just to make an attempt to save one soldier. The soldiers on the mission are led by Capt. John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and they clearly communicate that they don't feel it is the right thing to do.

          As they are searching for Private Ryan, the soldiers in the group discuss their feelings and ask Capt. Miller what he thinks. Even though it is pretty obvious that he feels the same way as they do, he tells them that he thinks it is a worthy mission. This is a classic case of leading by example. He could have compromised the mission and destroyed morale by sharing his true feelings, but he chose to be faithful to his orders even though he disagreed with them.

          There may come a time when your employees disagree with you, but you don't want them undermining your authority by not going along with your decision. By giving your all even when you disagree with a decision given to you from above, you are teaching your employees how to act when they disagree with you.

SUMMARY

Whether what you do is good, bad, or indifferent, your actions set the stage for how your employees behave.