Do as I do, Not as I Say!
Principled Leadership by Example
Dr. Steve Guendert, Brocade Communications
Abstract
• Leading by example is a lost principle in our society
today. Far too many people in management roles in IT
organizations practice "Do as I say, not as I Do" and it
causes far too many problems, the least of which is a lack
of job satisfaction in employees. We'll discuss what it
means to be a leader (its not just being a manager), and
then we'll focus on how you can learn to become someone
who leads by example. The presenter is a former US
Navy Officer.
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Agenda
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Why do we care about leadership?
Leadership definition
Manager vs. leader
Principles and traits
Lead by example
Why does leadership matter?
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Leadership definition
• Many definitions for leadership exist
• Leadership is stated as the "process of social influence in
which one person can enlist the aid and support of others
in the accomplishment of a common task.”
• Nice book definition but let’s not be academics
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My favorite definition
• Leadership:
• “ The art of getting someone else to do something you
want done because he wants to do it.”
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Examples
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Leadership (leader) vs. Management
(manager)
• “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of
success; leadership determines whether the ladder is
leaning against the right wall.”
~Stephen R. Covey
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Steve’s ideas
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Managers stew, leaders do
Managers require, leaders inspire
Managers preach, leaders teach
Managers follow rules, leaders make them
Managers do things right, leaders do right things
Managers focus on action, leaders focus on vision
Managers haze, leaders praise
Leaders realize their people doing well is a reflection on
them, it is not a threat to them.
Principles
GUENDERT’S RULES
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Integrity
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Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code
Moral soundness
Honesty
Freedom from corrupting influence or motive
• Rule #1: Never compromise your
integrity. Never!
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Know your people
• True leaders sincerely care about their people
• True leaders show an interest in their people
• True leaders know their people
• Example: Bob Mahoney, IBM
• Rule #2: Know your people.
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Expectations
• Don’t ask your people to do what you would not expect of
yourself.
• Are you willing to do yourself what you are asking of
others?
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Expectations
• Rule #3: Be willing and able to do
yourself what you ask of others.
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Your best effort
• Sloth is one of the deadly sins.
• Always give your best effort-demand no less or no more
of others than what you demand of yourself. Anything else
is hypocrisy.
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Your best effort
• Rule #4: Always, always give your best
effort.
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Chain of command
• If you whine or complain in front of your people, you have
lost their confidence and you lose them.
• Morale is more contagious than the Plague
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Chain of command
• Rule #5: No whining
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Confidence
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Always exude confidence no matter the odds
“Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools”-Napoleon
“The difficult we do at once, the impossible just takes a little longer”-US Navy Seabees,
World War II
Confidence
• Rule #6: If you put your mind to it, you
can accomplish anything.
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“Micromanagement”
• "The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick
good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint
to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”—
Theodore Roosevelt, American President
• "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do
and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”—
General George S. Patton
• Rule #7: Trust your people
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Diversity
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
• Do unto others…..
• Rule #8: Treat everyone as you would
want to be treated
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Decisiveness
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Before you can lead, you need to know how to follow.
Indecision only results in bad things.
Initiative is there to be seized.
Its better to ask forgiveness than ask permission-we learn from failures.
Decisiveness
• Rule #9: Lead, follow, or get out of the
way.
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Power
• Rule #10: Always do the right thing
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Conclusion
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Lead by example-inspire your people.
Blaze the path.
Integrity is everything.
Never quit.
Never compromise your principles.
Have a vision.
THANK YOU
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