Our Fallibility as Leaders

Sparing you some of the gory details, we had a situation where my son and I had to have some "man talk" where I expressed some displeasure with his behavior. It wasn't pretty and was very uncomfortable for him and not at all pleasant for me. Given that I took some huge withdrawals from the emotional bank account with him I recognized that I needed to have a more grounded follow-up discussion with him the next day.
After he came home from school the next day he and I had a good little chat about how to avoid interactions like we had the night before. I also told him that when I was his age I was four times as mischievous as he was and that he is a better kid than I ever was. It is a huge morale boost for him to hear that his Dad has screwed up in the past. It helps him to see that I am human, I have my faults, and that he easily can live up to my standards as set by example. I've told him things I haven't spoken of in years. It was great for both of us.
This interaction reminds me of our role as leaders. The best, most seasoned leaders I know aren't afraid to share their warts and show themselves as leaders who have learned not only from their successes but also their failures.

Use your successes and failures to help your teams learn from you and to model courage. Your teams will respect you immensely and be much more likely to follow your lead.
Published on February 21, 2014 06:41
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