Modeling Leadership
It is quite obvious that people will follow your example more than your directives. If you have ever had the joy of raising kids, they will become what you are, not what you say, no matter how much you attempt to direct their lives in a path different than yours. The same applies to leadership. People become a byproduct of their environment, and environment is created by leaders.
I once read a statement by a medical missionary, Albert Schweitzer, who stated, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others… it is the only thing!” If you want to create a certain type of atmosphere in your organization, it first must be evident in you. How you live, will be how they live. How you encourage others, will be how they encourage others. On the contrary, how you criticize and put down others will unfortunately be the model that many will follow. Lee Iacocca said, “The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.”
You might want to take a personal inventory of your own life and ask yourself a brutal question, and then respond to the brutal facts. “If my organization was filled with leaders just like me, what kind of organization would we have?” If you have set some goals for your team, make sure you are living them first. If you are challenging them in the time management, make sure that you are living it first. If you are encouraging your team to step up the prayer life, increase your prayer time first. Your confession will have little impartation without possession first. Just remember modeling leadership is the only true method of developing leaders.
