Last Thursday's Daily Retail Quote was one of the most downloaded and printed quotes in quite a while. The quote was, "A leader leads by example, whether he/she intends to or not." That clearly resonated with many of our subscribers.
As leaders, we know we lead by example, but we often think it is a timely or conscious decision. This quote reminds us that we're always leading by example. It's not something we turn on or off. Instead, it is something we're either aware of or not.
Any leader who tells his team, "do as I say and not as I do" is only fooling himself. Your team determines what's important by a combination of your actions and expectations. If the two aren't aligned, it communicates a lack of commitment and, not surprisingly, your employees aren't committed either.
Let me give you an example. When I was at Bose, a requirement of working in the store was to do a scripted product demonstration at the end of the Bose Music Theater show. One day I was watching one of my employees do a show and I noticed he left out part of the script.
I pulled him aside and asked why he didn't do the script as written. Much to my surprise, or maybe I should say horror, he said that I had been shortening up my script so he figured he was allowed to do the same. Yes, I had deviated from the script when I had other work to do but I never realized that anyone noticed. I learned my lesson on that one.
Aligning a leaders expectations and actions are especially important to the customer experience. A great customer experience is the result of many small actions, and if employees see a manager or owner not doing what's expected they will internalize, either consciously or unconsciously, that these small actions aren't important. The opposite is true when employees consistently see a leader do what is expected.
Do they see the leader warmly welcome customers when they enter the store? Do they hear the leader ask a customer a series of questions before they show a product? Do they see the leader always come out from behind the counter to present the customer their purchase?
How about you? Are your actions and expectations aligned? Remember, a leader leads by example, whether he/she intends to or not.
Download this leadership quote as a reminder.
As leaders, we know we lead by example, but we often think it is a timely or conscious decision. This quote reminds us that we're always leading by example. It's not something we turn on or off. Instead, it is something we're either aware of or not.
Any leader who tells his team, "do as I say and not as I do" is only fooling himself. Your team determines what's important by a combination of your actions and expectations. If the two aren't aligned, it communicates a lack of commitment and, not surprisingly, your employees aren't committed either.
Let me give you an example. When I was at Bose, a requirement of working in the store was to do a scripted product demonstration at the end of the Bose Music Theater show. One day I was watching one of my employees do a show and I noticed he left out part of the script.
I pulled him aside and asked why he didn't do the script as written. Much to my surprise, or maybe I should say horror, he said that I had been shortening up my script so he figured he was allowed to do the same. Yes, I had deviated from the script when I had other work to do but I never realized that anyone noticed. I learned my lesson on that one.
Aligning a leaders expectations and actions are especially important to the customer experience. A great customer experience is the result of many small actions, and if employees see a manager or owner not doing what's expected they will internalize, either consciously or unconsciously, that these small actions aren't important. The opposite is true when employees consistently see a leader do what is expected.
Do they see the leader warmly welcome customers when they enter the store? Do they hear the leader ask a customer a series of questions before they show a product? Do they see the leader always come out from behind the counter to present the customer their purchase?
How about you? Are your actions and expectations aligned? Remember, a leader leads by example, whether he/she intends to or not.
Download this leadership quote as a reminder.
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