Chapter 4 - Set the Example
Chapter 4, Set the Example, of Kouzes & Posner is the second chapter in the Model the Way practice of exemplary leadership section of the book. The basic premise of the chapter was that after clarifying values (see chapter 3) a leader needs to set the example. This is broken down into two main sections:
• Personify the Shared Values
• Teach others to model the values
The first section is fairly obvious, a leaders actions and words should exemplify the shared values, thus setting a good example. The second part was a little less obvious, but basically a leader should use challenges as learning experiences linking to shared values and reinforce repeating behavior that is rooted in the shared values. They should also use stories to drive the values home, which to me makes perfect sense given that most people were raised associating learning values and morals with a good story.
When reading Chapters 3 and 4 I kept thinking back to a saying I’ve heard:
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.�
I’ve only seen the author listed as unknown but it sounds very Buddha like to me. The Kouzes & Posner quote that sounds most similar to me was from page 82:
“Paying attention to the way you use language isn’t one of those ideas-of-the-month that’s the trendy thing to do. Researchers have documented the power of language in shaping thoughts and actions.�
This got me thinking about “walking the talk� and what affect the ‘walk’ has over the outcome. I’d be interested to see the results of a study that compared ‘walk’ and ‘talk’ over varying degrees of ‘talk’. For instance, if you talked loud enough and often enough, could that start to replace needing to walk the talk? Perhaps it could in the short term? I guess I have a difficult time thinking of when there was a positive outcome from some leadership attempting this. I can think of some negative examples, Enron and Worldcom, but it seems to me that in those cases the talk was a cover up for deceit.
But then don’t we often elect our leadership in many cases just based on ‘talk’ with the hopes that the walk will follow? It’s interesting to me, because in the beginning of chapter 3 the authors list leaders that people indicate they would follow willingly. The two most frequent leaders mentioned were Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. but other notables included Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and others. The authors tell us these were people with strong beliefs about matters of principle. Yet I wonder about the ‘walk’ and the ‘talk’ in all of these instances. Would Mother Teresa’s questioning of her own faith harm her life’s ‘walk’? Would sexual indiscretions on the part of leaders with great ‘talk’ minimize the message? Perhaps it’s primarily the shared values that people want to see ‘walked’?
That being said, I firmly believe that leadership needs to set the example for what is expected, but then again I realize my beliefs on this are probably rooted in my own values and others may not share those values. I’ve worked places where one of my managers favorite saying was, “Do what I say, not what I do.� Now there was always a slight twinkle of the eye when he said this, but then you have to think: thoughts, words and actions. I also believe leadership should lead by example, because those are the leaders I choose to follow. I guess that is partly why I’ve enjoyed The Leadership Challenge so far, though I did read a critique on Kouzes & Posner by Mitch McCrimmon, who challenged their ‘Values’ based leadership model in favor of ‘Thought’ based leadership. I haven’t read enough of the book yet to fully appreciate the article so I’ll comment on it in a future post about The Leadership Challenge, but if you are interested you can see the article here:
http://www.leadersdirect.com/Kouzes%20&%20Posner%20on%20Leadership.pdf
I don’t know anything about Mitch McCrimmon yet so I can’t say anything about his credibility
Comments
Kouzes and Posner offered the ten commitments to leadership could be read in any order. I read chapters 4 and 3 backwards, reading last chapter page and then reading previous sections on back. It allows me to process and translate how the author is making their final point. Commit yourself to clarify your values and set examples by taking action to align shared values. Practice modeling the way. Talk the walk, walk the talk. I’d also be interested in seeing the outcome on a study that measured these actions.
What makes us tick? What do I value? I know for me, it needs to matter; everything else is trivial. I also need to connect on a personal level. So would I willingly follow the leaders presented? Would I believe what every leader, even ones that I admire, is saying to be true? Not likely, call me a bit skeptical but I do distrust certain statements no matter who they come from. I need to know the truth and I don’t rely on the sole source. Just because some talks, doesn’t mean I follow, truthfully, even if they walk the talk. If it doesn’t connect with my values, and if I’m in the position to take a new direction, I do.
Yet, I do agree that leaders should set the example of expectations, it’s up to an individual to follow the way, perhaps there are books written on “Following the Way�! Is their character built on their habits by their actions that started with thoughts or is it a mere image on how they want us to perceive them? Do they believe in what they are saying and doing? I think it takes a gut reaction to buy in or walk from anyone’s talk.
Posted by: Alex | February 19, 2008 04:33 PM