[June 5, 2016] It is often said that the best of leaders are willing to do what they whatever is asked of their followers. As lieutenants in the U.S. Army we could always tell which officer was most respected from how “wet” they were with their men at the wash racks cleaning armored vehicles. Those at the wash facility who were wettest were those doing the dirty job of helping out in the tough job of ensuring all the equipment was properly washed.
“Our actions speak loudly,” my grandmother once told me. We were sitting in church one day before the sermon and the topic came up about my behavior at home of talking back to my mother and not doing my chores. She said that what we do in life tells the Lord (and everyone else) about our character. I was appropriately admonished, although I’m not sure where she got the information; probably from my sister.
Leadership is difficult enough just getting through a good day. When we take action on any particular thing, whether it is something simple like having lunch or complimenting a good worker, others are observing our behavior and make judgments about us based on it. That is what people do all the time. A leader should be conscious about how their actions, or non actions, appear, especially if it appears to be something other than what we intend it to be.
One danger area for a leader is when a majority of people misinterpret that leader’s actions. Case in point; U.S. President Barak Obama recently commuted the criminal sentences of 42 current inmates in federal prison for various “non-violent” offenses.1 To date he has issued 348 commutations during his time in office, more than all presidents combined since Lyndon Johnson left office in 1963. While he has said he will commute even more, many interpret Obama as being soft on crime, contemptuous of the criminal justice system, and anti-police.
Obama’s actions are a good example for all leaders to see it for the value of an important leader lesson; doing the dirty job of a leader is important. So, as my grandmother reminded me several times during her life, “what we do tells others about us as good people (or not).” We should be mindful of the benefits of leadership – the good we can do – but also wary of how our actions could be misunderstand.
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