Follow my lead family. I will guide you on the right path.
This question is not only for leaders; this question is for every single one of us. Are you a colleague, friend, parent, part of a family or a group member, in a nutshell are you a human being? Do you expect those around you to: act in a certain way; have particular morals or follow certain rules? Are you ever guilty of being the pot calling the kettle black?
Well, do you talk the talk and follow up by walking the walk?
I see it all the time……a colleague gossiping about how a workmate is slack when they themselves are wasting time gossiping; a colleague bagging out another worker for having a long break when they have just spent 10 minutes on a personal call. How is it that we can see the faults in others but not see them in ourselves?
A parent spending hours on the internet and wondering why their kids are spending hours on their Xbox? A parent screaming out orders and wondering why their kids are in trouble at school for bossing others around. As parents one of the best gifts we can give our young ones is to lead by example. Children are like sponges and will soak in every lesson that we teach. Don’t think for a second that they are only listening to our words; they will follow our actions and behaviours far more than any words of wisdom that we offer up. I see so many parents of teens worrying about their teens drinking when the parents drink more in a weekend than I could drink in a year. Do we think our teens are blind…they will follow our lead. As parents we must be more mindful of our actions than our words. Children of all ages are very clever and can spot a hypocrite from a mile away. If you are a parent do you lead by example?
Do you expect your family members to treat you in a certain way but don’t offer them the same respect? Do you speak down to them or treat them at times with a lack of respect and wonder why they do the same to you? Are you ever guilty of “do as I say not as I do”?
I believe that in every action, word and deed we should lead by example. We should treat others how we want to be treated and be very mindful of how we interact with those around us.
How would you rate in the leading by example scorecard? Do you lead by example?
happyasapiginmud 
I agree, Michelle. We should all lead by example, but because we are human we sometimes don’t. We don’t realize it, but children are always studying us and picking up our bad habits. Sometimes we treat our friends better than we treat our own families! We really do need to be more mindful of what we’re doing and how we treat each other. Enjoyed this post very much 🙂
You are so right………..often we treat our friends way better than we treat our family………….if we can all be more mindful of our interactions I am sure that our relationships can improve.
I know I haven’t been the person others would have liked me to be in the last and I’m not very good at treating others how I wish to be treated. How I wish to be treated is never going to be how I am treated- because we are all different! But I am encouraging others to be better people and rather than make myself out to be a better person I’m starting to ask others to help me in return and stop me when I’m starting to gossip or act in a way I didn’t want to. 2015 will be full of change!!
That’s a great idea Lauren, get others to help us to stop certain behaviours….like gossiping. Sometimes we can be gossiping without even realising it. Great tip!