Monday; April 22

The other day I was reading some information about leadership in which the author noted that we are called to lead by example, not by explanation.  The concept is pretty simple – people don’t want to hear what they are as supposed to do as much as they need to see how to go about doing it.  While good leadership combines both instruction and demonstration, the point is that unless we are willing to walk the walk, we aren’t going to do much good talking the talk.
Most of us are familiar with this concept, but as I read this I got to thinking about another principle of leadership – we must lead by example, not by exception.  In other words, we are called to show people how they are supposed to live not merely tell people what they are supposed to do, then make excuses for why we don’t do what we should be doing.  Unless we are willing to live the right way, we should just save our excuses and our breath.  It is easy to tell people how to live but it is also pretty simple to make up reasons why we (personally) don’t have to do it.  While this is easy to profess, it is also easy to spot.  In fact, it is such a simple concept that it has its own word – hypocrisy.  We may not like being called hypocritical, but unless we are willing to live up to the principles we espouse, the description fits.
Let’s not only teach what we need to teach, let’s do what we need to do.  That is the true description of leadership.
Think About It!

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