Leadership certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. You have heard the saying, “It is lonely at the top”. That always sounded untrue to me until it became a reality. Not only is it lonely but everyone is watching. Your attitudes, your stress levels, your reactions, your confidence, your balance, among other things. I have a co-worker that constantly reminds us that “the employees will take on the personality of the leader.” Too often we brush that off as another “leadership cliché” or something that feels untrue. I think as leaders we don’t realize we have that much impact. What we want is to make solid decisions that are the best for both the company and the employee. Outside of that, we don’t think we carry that much impact; however, that simply is not true. I challenge you to look around your organization. If you think through your organization, think of a team that is generally known for being positive, upbeat, kind, and hard-working. Now examine their leader. Most likely you will find that their leader is positive, upbeat, kind, and hard-working. If you think of another team that is analytical, conservative, docile. I would probably guess that their leader carries those qualities as well. Same goes for a team that is stressed, reactionary, dramatic and burned out. Their leader is most likely exhibiting their stress to the team.
