Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: People Are Watching
Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us that the people around us are watching and they will learn from and imitate what they see us do.
This story involves our dog, a black lab and chow mix that we got from an animal adoption center whose name is Jett, and I love that there are lessons that we can learn from our dogs. In this instance, our dog was trying to get into something that she was not supposed to, so I looked at her, pointed my finger, and said firmly, “Jett, no!“ Well, sometime later, my then-one-year-old granddaughter was eating goldfish crackers out of her little snack cup, and she dropped one. The dog started to come over to try to eat it off the floor, and my granddaughter looked at her, pointed her finger, and said firmly, “Jett, no!“ (and the dog obeyed!). I had not even realized that my granddaughter had been watching me when I rebuked the dog earlier, but it seems that she was. She had watched, learned from my example, and imitated me.
When this happened, it made me think of a time when my own kids were in middle and high school, and my dad came to visit us. I was working as a secondary principal in a school, and my dad had never visited this school before, so he did not know anyone, nor did anyone know him. He came to visit me in my office (it was the summertime, so no students were there), and being the social extrovert that he was, it didn’t take long before he decided to wander around the campus to meet people. A short time later, a teacher who had no idea who my dad would be walked into my office and asked me if my dad was visiting. I said, “Yes, how did you know?” He said, “I saw a man walking around who walks exactly like you, and like your son.” I was struck by the power of that imagery. Without any conscious awareness, I walk just like my dad, and my son walks just like me. Like the story of my granddaughter with our dog, it showed me that we watch, learn from, and imitate the people around us.
This is an incredible truth for you and your leadership. Whether you realize it or not, and even if you don’t know that they are watching, the people around you are watching you, learning from your example, and imitating you. They see how you handle circumstances, they observe how you interact with people, and they begin to pattern themselves after you, often subconsciously even. And if they admire you and value your leadership, it is that much more likely to happen. Therefore, your actions and your character will have an impact on others, even if you do not intend it to happen.
The lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from this interaction between my granddaughter and our dog, is simply that you influence others by your example. It’s a progression of deepening impact. They watch you, then they learn from you, and finally, they imitate you. You may say, “Do as I say, not as I do,“ but that is not what is going to happen. They are going to do as you do. So, you must be intentional about everything you do, even if you think no one sees, because people are watching and will copy your example.
