Role modelling with intent
As we go through life, we recognise several people as role models, and they shift over time. They may be famous people, brave campaigners, talented artists, ruthless politicians, or alternatively be someone closer to home like a friend, parent, or grandparent. The Oxford Dictionary definition of a role model is ‘a person looked to by others as an example to be imitated’. Have a think about people you’ve considered role models in the past – do they meet this definition? What did they have in common?
As leaders, we cast a long shadow. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expert, Fiona Daniel, who owns https://www.fd2i.co.uk (and is a great friend of ours), once told us about what she calls ‘leadership privilege’. Leadership privilege refers to the power and influence leaders have, often without knowing it. The result of this privilege is that leaders’ behaviours, both good and bad, will be noticed, digested and replicated. Leaders set the tone for what’s acceptable in the organisation culture, so being intentional about the behaviours we role model is core to effective leadership.
There’s so much we could talk about on this subject, so maybe we can pull out a couple of examples of where role modelling can have real impact – both positive and negative.
We’ve observed some organisations in which ‘busyness’ is worn as a badge of honour. These cultures prioritise activity over achievement, and often lead to low psychological safety, unproductivity, and unnecessary burnout amongst teams. Often in these cultures we’ve seen leaders who are visibly ‘always on’, although they claim they don’t want immediate replies they send emails out of hours and at weekends to their teams. This sort of role-modelling is unhelpful. Leaders that role-model clear boundaries, work-life balance, sleep, and wellbeing will have more productive, efficient and happy teams, and improve inclusivity within the culture.
In another scenario, leaders that role-model integrity will have a positive impact on their teams and others around them. High integrity means doing the things we say we will, calling out bad behaviours, asking for help when we need it, and maintaining appropriate discretion. Leaders that behave in a passive aggressive way, undermine others, or engage in gossip will naturally give the green light to others to do this. And while of course, no one behaves perfectly all the time - we are all sometimes at the mercy of our emotions, and feel hurt, anger and frustration – we can openly acknowledge when we haven’t behaved well, apologise, and put things right.
In a previous blog we talked about defining our intent as a leader. In doing this, we should also think about the behaviours we’re role-modelling and make some intentional changes.
In our flagship leadership programme, The Intentional Leader, we invest time in supporting leaders to reflect deeply on their own values and behaviours and define the impact they want to have on their teams, organisations, and society. We think it’s a great programme and we can customise it for your budget and needs. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more at info@hex-development.com.
