Steven stopped pushing the massive piece of equipment. Wiping sweat from his brow with his calloused hands, he complained, “Man, we’ve moved nearly everything, and he hasn’t done squat except walk around joking with everyone.”

“Well,” Chris stated, “he’s the boss.”

“What’s that got to do with it,” Steven demanded. “Being the boss doesn’t mean you don’t do anything, does it?”

Chris glanced toward their jovial supervisor. “He’s here to make sure we do it right and, as he says, for ‘moral support.’”

“All he’s doing is slowing us down and pestering me. He’s just telling dirty jokes and trying to get everyone to like him. I haven’t seen him lift a finger since we’ve been here. We would’ve been outta here an hour ago if he wasn’t ‘helping.’”

~~~~~~~~~~

Liked? Loved? Feared? Respected?

There are countless thoughts on what kind of relationship leaders should have with their followers.

Leaders have a difficult enough time leading themselves, yet there is constant internal and external conflicting pressure to lead followers how they want to be led versus the way the leader wants to lead.

I’ve conducted thousands of interviews and routinely hear, “I like to lead by example.” Do you want to be the kind of leader who “leads by example?”

The question is: What kind of example do you want that to be? Do you want to be a reliable, hard worker who cares about others, or do you just want to be perceived that way?