Words and Deeds

The effectiveness of any leader revolves around not just what they say but what they do. Both must be in-sync and, as a result, are of equal importance. If not, then the leader's effectiveness is undermined by the leader him or herself. On the surface, such an observation might seem obvious. After all, the assumption is that those under the "big boss" listen to what comes down from on-top. They also pay very close attention to the leader's actions. It never ceases to amaze at how often leaders fail to fully appreciate this.

A number of years ago I was part of a sizeable division that comprised multiple units. Each unit had its own supervisor. We had just moved into a new building. The chief executive officer of the entire organization handed down a dictum that no one was allowed to smoke inside the building. Each supervisor echoed the policy to their staffs. The very next day, however, one of the supervisors was found smoking at her desk. When reminded of the new policy, her reply was that as supervisor, what she was doing was all right. Her brazen action did not set well with the staff as it caused much rumbling among them and ultimately became one of the reason why she was eventually terminated. By refusing to adhere to the no-smoking policy, she lost much of whatever respect she had earned from her staff.

The most effective communicators are those who do the best job of ensuring their words and deeds are in-sync. When that is not the case, then the leader's credibility is compromised. Credibility compromised is credibility lost. People generally do not respect those who say one thing but do another. Matching words and deeds is one of the key challenges that any leader faces every day of their time as boss. When they fail to do this, then whatever effectiveness they may have as communicators is greatly undermined.