Being a leader in any capacity can be without a doubt a most challenging feat. It depends though on how a person exhibits his or her leadership qualities and so doing will automatically lead by example.
According to Liano (2016), “Each day you are leading by example. Whether you realize it or not or whether it’s positive or negative, you are influencing those around you.”
A good leader inspires his team with good ethics, encouragement, trust, commitment and overall sense of wellbeing. Leading by example is in fact a reality. A team that is led by a most creative and innovative leader with an aim to succeed will in fact be successful if that leader has the will and know how to make that team operate in one accord.
Peterson (1961), in his book,
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Schweitzer (2016), states that, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing” and I agree. One way of leading by example is to behave in a way that your team or followers can adopt such principles. For example, just the way how the leader interacts with the team by being polite or courteous, the way how he or she dresses, the way he or she disciplines a team member or follower speaks volumes about his/ her leadership. People most times will closely watch their leader and quite naturally behave in like manner.
For a person to be a good leader he or she must be willing to listen to their team because the smallest of ideas or opinions could make a lot of difference. The team will therefore feel a sense of importance to their common cause and things will go well because they feel appreciated and useful. Only in a situation where good leadership prevails, where one leads by example can huge benefit and success be
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When this happens, you can almost see the loss of enthusiasm and goodwill among the staff. It's like watching the air go out of a balloon – and cynicism and disappointment usually take its place.”
“No matter what the situation is, double standards – witnessing people say one thing and then doing another – always feel like betrayals. They can be very destructive. If this ever happened to you, you can probably remember that sense of disappointment and letdown (Epperson, 2016).”
There might be the perception that leading by example is not a reality because there are in fact bad leaders such as some politicians, managers, religious leaders, teachers, student leaders and rulers of some countries, among others, but the good out-weighs the bad.
Eikenberry (2015) states in support that, “If we want our influence to be positive and productive, we must be clear on what we want from others, and then make sure our actions (as well as our words) support that. When we do this, we are leading by example in an intentional and productive