A number of years ago, I worked with an organization in which a senior leader refused to update a huddle board on their own. They had their secretary do it, not because it was hard to lead and scribe at the same time, but because writing on a board was “beneath their pay grade”.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was in a two day training on The Goellner Way at Hennig Inc. Senior Executives and leaders from France and Germany had traveled to the USA for the training. On the second day, for some reason, the cleaning crew hadn’t emptied the trash overnight and at lunch, on the second day, there was no place to put our garbage. So, without blinking an eye (or stopping conversation on TGW), Noah Goellner, the President of Hennig USA, emptied the two garbage pails, took the two large bags of trash downstairs, and put new garbage bags into the trash cans.
One of the values of Hennig, and TGW, is that “leaders lead from front”. And that no leader should expect anyone to do anything they aren’t willing to do themselves.
As a leader, it’s important to remember that people are watching your every move, at all times. And they will “do what you do, say what you say and think how you think”. If you want people to be accountable, take responsibility and serve others, that is what you need to model yourself. Every day, in every way. Even when it means taking out the trash!
How are you modeling kind leadership today?
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