by Michael Shaw
Bottle to Intellectual Throttle (BIT) kicked off 2019 with an enthusiastic gathering of new and old faces. It was a welcome start to a new year of intellectual exploration.
This month, Mike Gourgues took the helm and challenged the group with this question - Lead by Example: What Does that Mean? Like many pithy leadership quotes, leader of all variants are familiar with the phrase Lead by Example. But when you take the time to ask someone what that means exactly the explanations vary from canned responses such as “do the right thing when no one is looking” to more introspective such as “demonstrating those specific actions that one wants emulated or duplicated within their organizational culture.” Some even boiled the subject down sarcastically by suggesting “don't be asshole!”
In Stanley McChrystal’s new book, Leaders: Myth and Reality, Mike shared with the group McChrystal’s research explaining how consistency in adaptation to changing situations in the moment was a key to success for many great leaders. This idea points to the idea that leading by example through individual experiences may be just as impactful as an crafted response that is duplicated over and over again based on a specific set of circumstances.
What the group did agree upon was that we are always leading by example whether we mean to or not. Moreover, one persons interpretation of that example will not be the same as another’s. One leaders directive nature may be appreciated by some but resented by others. More importantly, before one concerns themselves with how their leadership is being interpreted then must first take time to look internally and figure out what example they are trying to set. While leading by example may be a daily occurrence, intended or not, only through a self-examined life can a leader can begin to deliberately shape the example they desire.