If you desire to be the best leader you can become, you must not neglect the Law of the Picture. As you strive to improve as an example to your followers, remember these things:

1. Followers are always watching what you do.

Just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees watch their bosses. If the bosses come in late, then employees feel that they can too. If the bosses cut corners, employees cut corners. People do what people see.

Followers may doubt what their leaders say, but they usually believe what they do. And they imitate it. Former U.S. Army general and secretary of state Colin Powell observed, "You can issue all the memos and give all the motivational speeches you want, but if the rest of the people in your organization don't see you putting forth your very best effort every single day, they won't either."

2. It's easier to teach what's right than to do what's right

John Wooden use to say to his players, "Show me what you can do; don't tell me what you can do." Followers have the same attitude towards their leaders. They want to see their leaders in action, doing their best, showing the way, and setting the example.

3. We should work on changing ourselves before trying to improve others

Leaders are responsible for the performance of their people. The buck stops with them. They accordingly monitor their peoples progress, give direction, and hold them accountable. And to improve the performance of the team, leaders must act as change agents. However, a great danger to good leadership is the temptation to try to change others without first making changes to yourself.

To lead any way other than by example, we send a fuzzy picture of leadership to others. If we work on improving ourselves first and make that our primary mission, then others are more likely to follow.

4. The most valuable gift a leader can give is being a good example.

More than anything else, employees want leaders whose beliefs and actions line up. They want good models who lead from the front.

Leadership is more caught than taught. How does one "catch" leadership? By watching good leaders in action!

Please respond to the following questions:

1. Give an example in your experience of how a leader's actions have influenced you more than their words.

2. How often do you find yourself imposing higher standards on others than you impose on yourself? How can you close the gap?