According to noted medical missionary Albert Schweitzer, “Example is not the main thing in influencing people… it is the only thing.” Part of creating an appealing climate to grow potential leaders is modeling leadership. People emulate what they see modeled. Positive model – positive response. Negative model – negative response. What leaders do, potential leaders around them do. What they value, their people value. The leaders’ goals become their goals. Leaders set the tone. As Lee Iacocca suggests, “The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.” A leader cannot demand of others what he does not demand of himself.
As you and I grow and improve as leaders, so will those we lead. We need to remember that when people follow us, they can only go as far as we go. If our growth stops, our ability to lead will stop along with it. Neither personality nor methodology can substitute for personal growth. We cannot model what we do not possess. Begin learning and growing today, and watch those around you begin to grow. As a leader, I am primary a follower of great principles and other great leaders.
[Taken from Developing the Leaders Around You: How to Help Others Reach Their Full Potential (2005) by John C. Maxwell. Published by Thomas Nelson Inc.]
Ask No More of Others than You Are Asking of Yourself.
THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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