.jpg?tr=w-920%2Cfo-auto "Change")
Leadership is a choice. Leadership is not about your title, how many people report to you, the size of your office or what is on your business card. Leadership is the congruency between what you say and what you do. It is about how you live your life and go about your job. Leadership is modeling the way and walking the talk. Being fully cognizant that your every movement, every word and every action is being thoroughly scrutinized. Understanding that the way others view you - your brand - is a byproduct of the experiences you have created for those around you.
Every action you take is an experience for those watching you. More importantly, those experiences are developing beliefs about you. As a leader, are you developing beliefs within your employees that will move your organization forward, or are you fostering beliefs that will impede progress?
Ask yourselves these questions:
How are you viewed in the eyes of your colleagues?
How are you viewed in the eyes of your boss?
How do your employees see you?
Change begins one leader at a time, and leaders exist at every level. It is essential for leaders to model the change and the behaviors desired from the rest of the organization. It is silly to think that others will change if you are unwilling to do so yourself. Tolstoy wrote, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one things of changing himself." Do not expect others to change unless you do so first. Or as Gandhi so eloquently stated, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
It is imperative to model the behaviors you wish to see in others. You cannot "make" someone change. However, you can model the way and encourage others to "choose" to change.
This is the third part of a six-part series. Read all six parts:
1. How to Lead Change and Accelerate Achievement
2. Leading and Managing Change
3. How to Be a Change Leader
4. How to Get Employees to Embrace Change
5. The Power of Volunteerism
6. How to Create a Culture of Winning
Mike Evans is a best-selling author/speaker and Managing Partner of QuestMark. Over the course of his career he has worked alongside a star studded list of world-renowned thought leaders such as Dr. Stephen Covey and Tom Peters.
Mike will be the keynote speaker at Destination Southeast, being held at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., September 5-8. Destination Southeast is the premier hosted-buyer event for meetings and incentive planners looking to book business in the Southeast. Click here to attend.