If you can't show them, you can't lead them
By Gloria Plaisted

Walk through any major bookstore and you will notice oodles of real estate dedicated to books on leadership principles. Pick up any one of them, glance at its jacket and the author will do his or her best to convince you that this is a great read.

The author's intentions are good, and I have to admit that many of them have helped my husband and I in our endeavors as seasoned entrepreneurs. But to discover true leadership secrets, you first must realize that like the gazillion diets on the market all of which create weight loss to some degree you need to choose the most balanced approach that will encompass long-term benefits. It is critical that you not only implement the plan, but also stick with it and be able to effectively teach others.

Whether you are leading an army, a business branch, a task force or athletic team, consider dusting off the best management book on the market, as well as the world's best-selling book. Studying its leadership principles as well as the added bonus of powerful inspiration will teach you the foundation of success in any endeavor. It begins with the most important trait that God required of all the people He will call to task honesty and integrity. In 1 Chronicles 29:17, we learn that God tests the heart and that He is pleased with integrity and honest intent.

Keeping your word and being true to your values must be demonstrated in the purest form. Whether the time is 2,000 years ago or the 21st century, honesty and integrity have always been commended and required by God.


Consider these points:

Hiring: Businesses are too often forced into what some refer to as "warm body hiring practices." It is a desperate measure to hire people simply to fill a position without regard to what that person may or may not have to offer. This is temporary at best.

Become the employer of choice: Make your workplace culture one that is sought by individuals with integrity, ambition and loyalty. My husband has often said, "A truly bad employee is rare. Poor leadership is usually the cause of a nonproductive and/or problematic environment." A truly bad employee will be culled from any culture, and the culling is often accomplished by fellow employees, as they do not wish their cultural basket ruined by any bad apples, thereby separating the wheat from the chaff.

Operations: Don't expect others to deliver what you can't deliver yourself. Begin with a mission statement and code of ethics. Display them and communicate them. Most importantly, bring them to life. This is a tall order to be sure. Burying them in a file cabinet shows us the value of the statement. For a time, stop all the e-mails, stop the memorandums, stop all the meetings, and stop telling. Develop an operational culture of show me, don't tell me, the same principle God uses throughout His Word.

Whether you are a residential chief executive officer, owner of one or multiple businesses, shift leader or CEO of a Fortune 500 company, remember that those around you are watching you closely. If you show up to work wearing your hat on backward tomorrow, chances are your subordinates will follow suit. If you illustrate honesty and integrity in your words and actions, that too will have contagious results.

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." Proverbs 11:3

Gloria Plaisted can be contacted at gloria.plaisted@livingstonesnews.com