Leading by example: the impact of its application on team performance

One of the essential personal skills of a leader that companies thrive on is to lead by example. A strong team is strong by its leader, especially as he highlights his team's path to success and demonstrates how failure must be dealt with.

The following article sheds light on the best ways to apply leadership by example, but before that, we will learn what it means, what it helps, and what the most critical consequences of not using it are.

What is leading by example, and what are the benefits?

Leading by example can be defined as a process or method that people use in management based on leading others with behaviour rather than ordering and speaking; that is, the leader's ability to influence and normalise the team with his or her leadership behaviours to take them into action.

In the past, the leader was saying one thing and doing another. This behaviour is no longer beneficial today; contemporary teams want to see how their leader's actions reflect what he says, so a successful leader must align his practices, habits, and behaviours with his core values. Harmonisation is the essence of a true leader.

By doing so, leadership can serve as an example of raising the company's efficiency through the following points:

• Raising staff spirit:

A practical and influential leader knows that his actions affect his employees' spirit, performance, and satisfaction, so when he leads by example, he increases their morale, loyalty to the company and productivity.

• Building trust and respect:

A person leading by example must calculate that he/she will have the confidence and respect of team members; where staff members see their superiors as competent and trustworthy in managing the team, as well as fostering trust and respect among team members themselves, which in turn increases the team's cohesion, the desired goal.

• Promoting a positive working culture:

Working culture is one of the essential features of successful companies. Culture encompasses the goals and practices of work and public behaviours and beliefs. So when leaders speak about these values daily, it increases employees' commitment to the importance of the place and environment and spreads positive energy in the area.

• Increased productivity:

When the team sees their leader doing their job hard, maintaining their commitments, and focusing on shared results, they will undoubtedly be higher productive teams given each person's increased desire to do hard work and make the rest proud of their achievements.

Moreover, when the commander agrees between his actions and statements, it does not waste the team's time trying to understand what he requests and decipher his intentions or agenda.

What happens when you need to lead by example?

Now that you've seen the most important benefits of using leadership by example, here are some of what can happen when you're not using it to lead the team:

• Deteriorate work ethic:

When a leader does not lead by example, the low morality of the team's work is at the forefront of things that are significantly expected to happen due to the effort of staff to perform well when they see a poor performance from their leader.

• Low morale:

Poor leadership significantly impacts employees' morale and energy; for example, employees will only feel motivated and satisfied when they trust their leader.

• Functional swing:

One of the most expensive things to hire and train new employees is when leaders are weak; employees will be more disruptive and think about moving away from this weak team.

• Ineffectiveness of labour regulations:

Leaders can teach their teams how to do things efficiently, quickly, and reliably. They have a mindset of keeping pace with change and continuous improvement. Vulnerable leaders will need more time to teach their teams how to become effective teams. Without the leader's support, teams will look for ways to resolve and implement things in complex ways. This will reflect ineffective working systems.

• Increased incidents:

An employee often looks to their leader to get a guide on what is needed and appreciated within the company and what is not. When leaders do not model security precautions within the company, the employee may feel that this is not an objective or a priority for the company and will not pursue it. 

This would lose the Panel's willingness to train or ignore workplace safety, which could cause costly errors and accidents.

• Lack of trust and respect:

Employees need help to trust their manager's decisions and assess their assignments in teams whose leaders do not lead by example.

What are the best ways to lead by example in companies?

As mentioned earlier, leadership by example helps prepare a productive and effective workplace where all employees feel valued and provide all their energy to help increase team success, so when thinking about leadership by example, the following considerations must be taken into account to ensure effective and enjoyable leadership:

• Commitment to promises:

Confidence-building and respect are the basis of the team's leadership by example, and the best way to achieve this is through a commitment to fulfilling promises. This demonstrates to the group the extent of their leader's commitment to his statements and helps to enhance their confidence in him.

The team will be more willing to ask questions, assume more responsibilities, and be more interactive, especially since employees who feel distrusted will become unproductive.

• Coming to work with a cheerful card:

To set an example, a leader should come to work with a positive energy that translates into love and enthusiasm for carrying out day-to-day tasks. When a team sees their leader this way, it automatically reflects on them. Therefore, the leader has prepared a productive and supportive team with a distinctive approach to carrying out tasks.

• Working with the team:

Spending a lot of time outside the office alongside team members in the workplace stimulates the staff's feeling that the leader is an integral one of them, in turn helping to work with the team to increase the leader's understanding of his staff, skills, and abilities, which allows him to lead better, respond to their queries and guide them to success and influence them.

• Follow the rules:

To lead the team best, firm rules must be established to operate through it. These rules must be favourable and help clarify responsibilities and expectations. A leader who has led by example must follow those rules to be followed by the rest of the team without any imbalance.

• Trusting the team:

Every employee appointed to the company to perform a task, each experienced and skilled to benefit the company, after ensuring that all employees understand the company's policy, vision, and objectives, must be given the confidence to carry out the tasks. The leader will not only earn the team's respect but will be an inspiration to the rest of the people and leaders in the workplace.

• Attending workshops and training:

Being a leader does not mean not planning for further self-development, learning, and growth. It is essential that the leader shows the team his desire for further progress and that he needs to learn more and have the answers to all questions. This helps to enhance their confidence in him and inspires them to look for similar opportunities for progress and development.

• Listen to others:

Listening to everyone, whether employees, colleagues, or top leaders, is a duty. Everyone has something valuable that they can add to the company. Additionally, attention to employees' perceptions reflects tremendous respect for them as first and second team members.

The method of interaction should be meaningful so that employees feel confident in their leader's ability to solve their problems and rest by posing any problem they face in the future.

• Attention to words and deeds:

Influential managers know that their words and actions are left to interpret, so when leading by example, you should know how your team interprets your words and actions; even in the harshest working conditions, the overall style of the leader should remain supportive of his team, and always offer words of encouragement.

These were some quick ideas about leading by example. If you are looking for more ways to drive to become a successful leader, simply register for one of the leadership training online programs easily and quickly by clicking on the previous link.