What is True Leadership?

One of my favourite statements about standards is,

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”

This statement achieved prominence, when a former Chief of the Australian Army went on social media, using this statement as part of his message, about the distribution of inappropriate material across the Australian Government and Defence IT networks.

 While the response in public was positive, there was a quiet but strong backlash in other quarters. The reason was the apparent disconnect between the message and the behaviour of the messenger; in that the messenger was perceived not to be doing as he stated.

 A few years ago, I worked with a personal development firm, where the actions of the directors were  totally opposite  with what they were saying. On stage and in front of audiences, they preached an approach of “taking personal responsibility“ telling people to “step up”, “not being judgemental“ and ”working as a team”.

Behind the scenes their conduct was different. Their approach consisted of using all the well-worn dodgy  practices  of personal development companies. Running a “free” personal success type workshop, luring participants to expensive programmes that offered limited value, flagrantly plagiarising other well known presenter’s material  and claiming it as their own. In short their standards did not match their public statements.

Not surprisingly that firm went bust.

A  point that was consistently hammered home in my officer training,  was that Australian soldiers and Australians in general understood more than ever, the power of personal example and that the standards you walk past is the standard you accept.

 More than ever they understood “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.” Woe betide those leaders that did not. It was something I was extremely conscious of, when I was given my first command appointment.

In any work, sport, or social environment, people will form a judgment of their leaders. They will look for inconsistencies between their public statements versus  their personal example.

 Set your standards and then set your example consistently. Consistency between your message and your actions are critical….because the standard you walk past will truly be the standard you accept.

And everyone will be watching.

Philip Wagner is a contrarian leadership educator and practitioner, serving Army Officer and developer of Leader IQ. - He can be contacted at phil@philipwagner.com.au or 0419 001 911