I had the opportunity to listen to the upcoming valedictorian from a local high school the other day. He was an impressive young man who, in addition to his academic prowess, was also a community citizen. He was helping a young man during summer camp. He talked about a particular moment or two.
The valedictorian from a local high school spoke to a group I was in a few days ago. He was very bright, very articulate and clearly interested in community service activities. He was helping a young man during summer camp. He talked about a particular moment or two.
Apparently he made a major impact on the young man. He went on to say that until that moment he had no idea of the impression he was making on the young sixth-grader.
Maybe you can remember a time when you were in one of those two positions. Anyone in an authority position has the opportunity to make a significant difference in the behavior of others.
When someone is viewed as an authority figure they generally also are viewed as a leader. It is pretty normal for people to look up to authority figures. It is typical the leader's day-to-day behavior will influence “followers”.
In business, supervisors will naturally have this spot. The points I’m going to make it a bit will apply in that situation but first…
In a situation similar to the one the young speaker talked about, the leadership position was given as a result of the sixth-grader looking at an older impressive individual. There was no business situation in the story this young man was telling.
The young man looked up to the older person simply because he was older. The younger person thought he was more experienced. He thought he had something to give him. Many people end up in similar positions. Think about school teachers and firemen. Think about coaches and older relatives.
How somebody became the leader doesn't matter. Just being in that position means they will have a big impact on other people. Every day in business when a leader shows up at his or her place of work their direct reports “check-in” to make certain they understand the mood of their boss. If the boss is up the troops are up. If the boss is down the troops are down.
If your leader you've got to recognize this situation. As a leader you've got to be totally aware of your day-to-day impact on other people's behaviors. If you're in a good mood it's very likely you'll notice that all your subordinates are in a good mood too. The opposite also applies. If you are down in the dumps, it's highly likely you'll pull other people down as well.
This time in a less than desirable way.
This is a very good reason why you want to know a leader's attributes well. You’ll discover that the smallest things can have the most profound effect on the performance of others.
This means, of course, you can dramatically improve results by maintaining a positive attitude.
The failure to understand these dynamics will not change their impact. Believe me, others will respond to the leader's behavior. It doesn't matter if the leader knows or doesn't know.
A very important point is, don't stick around if you don't feel good. The best thing to do is to leave if you don't have good. Always be upbeat. If you can't be then don't stick around.
