People Do What People See

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." 

                                                                                                       ― Albert Schweitzer

"What do you mean Julie (my daughter) cut class?" The high school truent officer called me at work to tell me Julie missed 5th period. Julie was such a great kid--a straight "A" student and never got in trouble. That guy couldn't be right and I told him I would talk to her and get back to him. 

I called home during a work break and was pretty tough on her because she admitted she didn't go to 5th period.  She explained to me, "Mom, my friend was so depressed and she need someone to talk with her. I spent 5th period in the bathroom helping her feel better. We went right back to 6th period after that. I know it was wrong, but Mom, you drop everything to help your AA friends in trouble all the time." 

I called the truent officer and told him if he needed a written excuse for Julie's absence, I would send him one. 

People do what people see.  Leadership is more caught than taught. Let me share some principles of the Law of the Picture to help us become more effective leaders. These come from a teaching from John Maxwell;

1. Eighty-nine percent of learning is visual according to educators. Maxwell says, "What we see, we will be." Followers want leaders to "show me, don't just tell me."

2. It's easier to teach what is right than to do what is right. I could tell my kids what to do all the time, however they imitated my actions faster than they listened to my words. As leaders, we need to practice what we preach.

3. Leaders need to work on themselves first. (Yeah, I don't like that either:) We need to be the change we want to see in life. 

4. The most valuable gift I can give others is a good example. There is nothing more confusing to those we lead than to say one thing and do another. 
 
A survey was taken by a profession staffing corporation. The number one trait they wanted from a boss was "to lead by example." The second most popular was: "to possess strong ethics and morals."  This just about says it all. 

I wish I understood this law when I was raising my kids.  The great thing about leadership principles is that we can learn them at any time in our lives. It is an inside job.  If your organization needs some leadership training, I'm happy to help!

Continuing to learn,

Jan