There was a time when a parent who smoked, drank excessively, cursed, etc. could demand – and often expect – a different standard of behavior from their children simply by telling them, ” I want you to have a better life than the one I’m living, so don’t follow in my footsteps and make the same mistakes I’ve made.”
No one exactly knows when that all changed, but the referendum on being able to raise good kids by providing a bad example of what not to do has passed.
Similarly, the time has also passed for a boss to manage his/her employees under the “I can do this, but don’t you go thinking it’s okay for someone at your level to do” axiom.
Fair or unfair, like it or not, your example is all that matters. In fact, what you do is speaking so loudly that it’s drowning out everything you say.
Last month, an angry employee left this note for his manager on the front door of the convenience store where he worked. Both the photo (left) and the story went viral running in hundreds of newspapers and media outlets across the country.
While this is amusing to most, business owners and leaders who dig a bit deeper will alarmingly discover that this is not an isolated incident.
On Reddit alone, more than 2,700 comments and rants were posted from readers who have experienced similar problems at their workplace.
Obviously, poor work ethic habits cannot be attributed to any specific generation or demographic. And managers who exhibit poor work ethic behaviors are going to be called out in increasing numbers by smartphone carrying employees and customers.
It’s time to notify parents, teachers, and managers that the “do as I say…” rule is no longer valid. It is obsolete. Extinct. Dead.
However, there is one axiom for leaders that is even more relevant today than when it was first said centuries ago, and it still works like a charm: “Lead by example.”
This was originally published on Eric Chester’s blog Chester on Point.
