James Laughlin argues that leadership cascades from the top and must be modeled through action, not words. He shares stories of a headmaster clearing leaves and the All Blacks sweeping their own sheds to show how leaders solve problems themselves. The point: be a walker, not just a talker.
Welcome back to Lead On Purpose. It's James Laughlin here, your host and I want to talk about the law of example. How many times do you see leaders telling others what to do, but they do the exact opposite? Now we have a new government here in New Zealand and I know a lot of people are looking towards them and going, will they walk the walk? Are they walking their talk? Well, look, we look at all pillars of society, whether it's education, health, even in our family settings. We look at our leaders to see what they're doing and see if there's congruency with their words, right? Even kids, they don't listen to what we say, they look at what we do and they follow suit. Right. The law of example states that leadership cascades from the summit. That's right, leadership cascades from the summit. It's a top down thing. Leadership starts at the top and filters down. Now how do we apply that? Well, here's a great example. You know, my little boy goes to a school and it's autumn. Picture it, the leaves are falling and outside the school there's leaves everywhere and there's rain that's falling. Everything's flooding, it's not looking good. As the cars are starting to pull up, the kids are getting dropped off for school. Now the headmaster, who's managing every aspect you could manage of this, you could imagine for the school, the staffing, logistics, there's a new build going on at the school. He's dealing with probably parental problems and challenges. He's out there before school starts. His nice shirt sleeves are rolled up and he's brushing, brushing those leaves, clearing the drains. I look at that and I think of the term sweep the sheds. You know, if you're going to lead by example, sweep the sheds. He was sweeping the sheds. He was doing what he didn't have to do but he knew was the right thing to do for the team, the All Blacks, which is New Zealand's national rugby team. For those that are not from New Zealand, you know, they're world class, one of the most winningest. Yes, that's a word, I think, winningest teams of all time, when they go abroad, often what they do is they bring black bin liners with them and some brooms. They brush up all of the dirt and the beer bottles and put them into the bags of these away games. So when the person, the janitor comes to clean up, everything has been swept and looked after. That's sweeping the sheds. That's leadership. That's doing what you don't have to do. It's going above and beyond. It's getting down to a level and going. Most leaders would say they're above that thing. I'm going to do that thing and I'm not going to comment on it, I'm not going to ask for it. I have a client who runs an incredible organization and many, many staff running massive revenue. But when required, she'll jump into the cafe component of that business and roll up her sleeves and get in amongst it. She will be standing, checking people in and out of the building, looking after customers, front facing. She doesn't have to do any of those things, but she knows that she's leading by example. Here's something I want you to try and remember. Be a walker. The greatest leaders are walkers. That's right. Not walking away from situations, but walking into them. Stepping up and stepping in. That headmaster that I just talked about, he's a prime example of a walker. He knows what's required, get in, get it done, don't wait for someone else to go and do it. You know, the janitor and the other people around the maintenance team, they may have had 100 other things on that morning. He stepped up, seen a problem, got to it. That's what leaders are great at. Not saying, oh, I'm now the CEO or I'm now the gm, so I'm above that. That's not leadership, that's destination leadership. Too many people arrive at the destination, get the title or the few little letters after the name, or they get their master's or their doctorate and all of a sudden they're a living legend. That's just not how great leaders lead. They don't care about titles, they don't care about destinations. They focus on the journey, they focus on the value add. So if you're thinking about you and what you do, are you leading by example? I want you to look at what you do professionally. Are you truly a walker? Are you going above and beyond? Are you getting in amongst it and doing the things you don't really have to do, but you're doing them anyway? To me, that's where the gold is, that's where the congruency is, that's where the upbringing exists. How did your parents or your caregivers raise you? That's, you know, if they raised you with great values, you start to shine them through. If they raised you with terrible values and didn't look after you, this is where you say, hey, I'm going to break that cycle. I'm going to be the one that Changes the cycle. But you know, your values should come through in your leadership. And if speaking poorly to others is how you operate, then you know you're not a walker. I sometimes see leaders in social settings. They don't see that I'm there and I see how they operate and connect with service staff in the hospitality industry. My God, sometimes it's so incredible and you can see that they're genuinely just beautiful humans. And other times they click their fingers. Yes, I've seen that. Click their fingers. They look down upon them, they sexualize them. It's just. It's terrible, right? You get to see the true leader when nobody's watching behind closed doors or in a different social setting. Who are you? How do you walk when you're in different settings? Are you consistent with those values? I imagine if you're watching this and you're taking notes and you listen to lead on purpose, that you are a leader who leads with intention. After all, that's what on purpose means, right? Is to lead intentionally. But what could you do to be 1% better? How could you be more congruent as a leader and walk the walk? Remember, leadership cascades from the summit. That's the law of example. You break the law of example, well, then it sets an example for others. The standard you walk past is the standard you get to accept. What are those standards? What do you stand for and what do you not stand for? I really hope that this short session has served you. We've got another incredible guest coming up soon, so please stay tuned. But for now, please get out there and lead your life on purpose.
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