If You Were Arrested for Being a Leader, Would There Be Enough Evidence to Convict You?

Here is a statement everyone will agree with: One thing that sets the best leaders apart is that they are always leading by example. Here is an equally true statement: All leaders are leading by example. The difference between the great and the rest are the kinds of examples they provide. Both statements point to the importance of leading by example – and that the ultimate effectiveness of a leader depends on their behavior.

In this way, leadership is a verb – it is what we do.

But at work, people are assigned or designated as leader by a job title (leader, manager, supervisor, boss, etc.). So, doesn’t that make leadership a position, and therefore a noun?

The Charge

Chances are you have experienced someone with the title, whose behaviors belie the position. In other words, position or not, people aren’t following them. Given this, let me ask you this question:

If you were arrested for being a leader, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

What evidence would you (or your lawyer) use to prove that you are, in fact, a leader?

Just the Facts

They would start with your job title. But the opposing attorney would use the logic we have already discussed – that the title doesn’t prove much.

Winning the case (that you are a leader!), would require you to show better proof. Proof that revolves around two factors:

• What are your behaviors? Are these behaviors consistent with (effective) leadership?
• Are people following? Ultimately, this is the proof that will matter most.

The good news is I don’t see a future where you would be arrested for being a leader. But while the question is hypothetical, the answers that make up your proof are important and not hypothetical.

Closing Argument

If you are serious about being an effective leader, both today and to leave a legacy from your results and the future leaders you grow, these questions are critical.

I hope you will ask them of yourself.

I hope you will use these questions to ask for feedback from others.

And I hope you will adapt and adjust your behavior until it is a slam-dunk case. That your behaviors prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you are a leader.

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It is our behaviors that allow us to lead effectively, but our mindsets impact and influence those behaviors. If you want to learn more about the mindsets that will help you lead more effectively, take our Remarkable Master Class titled: Remarkable Mindset: Creating the Mindsets That Lead to Greater Results.