Last week, over coffee, a friend and I enjoyed a very in depth discussion around leadership and what it means to be a leader. We both agreed that leadership is all about influence, and one of the greatest ways to influence others, is through setting an example. At that stage, my friend shared with me a very interesting story from a number of years ago that demonstrates this point very well, albeit not in the way you would expect. 

It is a story about a leader who focussed on & said one thing, whilst doing something in complete contrast. This leader was a senior executive at a large Australian organisation which was going through some challenging times – their revenue and market share was dropping and company profits were shrinking, so the focus was on reducing costs and seeking ways to drive efficiencies. As the story goes, this senior executive became laser focussed on cost reduction, to the point where he was suggesting to his people that they think twice before purchasing new pens, look at cheaper options for copying paper and stationery, and look at reducing costs for various other supplies within the business, including tea and coffee, paper towel, and even toilet paper. To the people within the business, this approach seemed to be rational and logical, and they were happy to oblige, until they discovered that this senior executive continued to drive his extremely expensive sports car to and from work each day, which by the way, was 100% funded by the company! Now you may argue that the cost of running 1 car is but a small percentage of the company’s overall costs compared to the larger volumes and costs such as supplies and stationery, and you would be correct. However, from a leadership perspective, this senior executive was sending a potentially conflicting message to his people, which could have been interpreted as ‘do as I say, not as I do’. In other words, this leader was not walking his talk! Continue reading →

One of the great benefits of living in the country is having chickens – they are fascinating creatures and they never cease to keep my family entertained. They love roaming the property ‘free range style’, always staying close to one another, and never drifting too far from their coop. Watching them is intriguing. They are forever foraging for food on the ground, sifting through grass, weeds and dirt to find the succulent insect, worm or snail, only occasionally raising their head to look around and check their environment. And when they either sense danger or become excited about something, they may even leap off the ground and appear to fly for over a metre, but never getting any higher than a metre off the ground. They certainly do not leave the brood and soar like eagles! As I was watching these chickens over the weekend, I couldn’t help but think about the lessons that chickens can provide us as leaders, especially if we are a leader who is trying to create eagles! The question that came to mind at that time was “as a leader, are you trying to teach chickens to fly so that they may become eagles?” If you are, what are the chances?  Continue reading →