Lead by Example | Tips Tuesday for Leaders

Lead by Example Video Transcript

Hi! Karin Naslund here with Naslund Consulting and the Great Supervision Training Series! It’s #tipstuesdayforleaders and today I want to talk with you about the importance of role modelling as a leader.

Staff are watching us more closely than they are listening to what we tell them when it comes to how we behave. So, it’s critical that as leaders, we’re very attentive to our own behaviours and that we are role modelling our expectations.

During my training, I talk with the students about setting up relationship expectations so that we’re catching staff doing good – not just when they have acted in a way that we consider inappropriate. Some of the relationship expectations that we identify together are as follows:

1) Problem Solving

Ideally, we want staff who problem-solve, not just problem-find. We want to be able to coach our staff toward being able to independently make decisions and to find solutions that are going to work effectively. We have to be able to role model and coach our staff in being able to deliver that. So, in our role modelling, we have to be prepared – always – to look for ways that we can, if not completely change a situation, to at least minimize the impact of it. I work with students on learning the 10 steps of problem-solving, how to work with this tool and how to coach their staff around it.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a workforce that was able to independently make decisions that you knew were going to be the most effective possible ways of resolving concerns and issues?

2) The Importance of Dealing with Issues Directly (Not just putting it off or gossiping about it within your team and with the organization)

Gossip is very detrimental to both the organization and to the teams and team members within the organization. In fact, gossip leads to conflict when it goes unresolved or when it doesn’t get put on the table and get discussed. Conflict is one of the largest reduceable costs that we have within our organizations. 

With my students, I talk about how critical it is to build that skill and confidence around going and having those face-to-face conversations; whether it’s around a disagreement or when a supervisor has to go and discipline their staff around something. It’s not that we delay. It’s not that we talk with others about it. In fact, we have to take action because, again, it’s an expectation that we need to put forward to our staff.

3) Attitude

A third role modelling part that I discuss with my students, among many others, is attitude. What kind of attitude are you bringing to the job? You are setting the tone and culture for your team if you are a senior leader for the entire organization.

Is your attitude one of inspiration? Energy? Enthusiasm? Passion? An attitude that is going to motivate staff and encourage them to be creative and engaging? Or is your attitude one of negativity that brings people down? That is always looking toward the worst possible situation or scenario? Or basically placing blame on others around you? It hugely impacts the productivity of your team and how and what your clients or customers see or look at when it comes to your organization or business.

So, as you begin your work tomorrow, keep these in mind and think about your own behaviour and what kind of message you are sending out toward your staff.

Until we meet again, remember: Success is yours! Bye for now!