Leading by Example: The True Essence of Leadership

Ariel C. Venida

“To become great leaders, we must first be able to lead ourselves.” These words from August Turak led to a realization of what the true essence of effective leadership is. The moment you become a leader or you choose to become a leader; you become a figure of somebody that people would always look up to. Every action that you do, every word that you utter and more so, every decision that you make is being carefully watched by the people surrounding you. Being a leader comes with a great responsibility of being a good example to your followers because people listen to you with their eyes and not with their ears. This means that your actions or behaviors matter a lot to them rather than the words you say. They will only follow you if they find integrity in your words and actions and if they see that your actions are consistent with your words. The more you practice what you preach and walk your talk, the more that you gain the trust and respect of your collaborators and the more you gain their full commitment.

Ethics and morality matter a lot in leadership. A Leader is noted to be the moral compass of the organization; as the moral compass of the organization, he/she should be the one leading the organization in the right direction as far as morality and ethics are concerned and they have the utmost responsibility of promoting the right culture of ethics, values and morality in the organization. A leader should be the first one to uphold the highest moral values and ethical standards and the one setting a clear boundary between what is right and what is wrong within the organization. A leader should have that power of influencing and enabling his/her collaborators to do what is right. However, despite the many expectations that people have toward leaders; many of them fall short of what is expected of them and confronted with different ethical dilemmas that pull down their credibility and integrity as a leader, thus, defeating the purpose why leaders are called to be leaders.

Leadership has a domino effect. A leader’s behaviors impact the entire organization. No matter how little or how big your action is, it will always generate ripples which will certainly affect your entire organization significantly in one way or another. Leading by example is the true essence of leadership. But a leader cannot lead by example unless he himself knows how to lead himself. It is important that as a leader, you know how to lead yourself first to what is moral and ethical before you can lead your collaborators to the same action or behavior.

Being a leader is never an easy task. It is both a challenging and rewarding role to fulfill. It is an unending process of constant self-awareness, always realizing that you cannot transform something unless you yourself is transformed. At the end of the day, what really matters as a leader is that you were able to set a good example to your collaborators. It is about being able to look at yourself in front of the mirror and tell yourself that you have done the right thing. It is about being able to sleep peacefully at night because you know that you were not able to compromise your values to something that is unethical and immoral. Lastly it is about being able to sleep at night peacefully because you know that you were able to stand up for what is right, noble and pure.

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The author is Teacher II (Science) at DepEd-Bical High School, Division of

Mabalacat City