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Summer 2002 Leadership Behavior
DWYSYWD
Jim Kouzes, co-author of The Leadership Challenge, continuously studies what people expect leaders to do. His current research on
leadership behavior shows that people expect leader to be:
- Honest (88%)
- Forward looking (71%)
- Competent (66%)
- Inspiring (65%)
- Intelligent (47%)
Honesty requires a deeper look. How can I show my honesty as a leader? What do I do to communicate my sincerity? Kouzes notes
that the most frequent answer to those questions is to be perceived as credible, that is, believable. The behavior that most people
say demonstrates credibility is DWYSYWD. Do what you say you will do.
DWYSYWD has several components. First, it means following through on your commitments. If you have told employees you'll "get back
to them on that." Do so. If you've stated performance standards, be sure to enforce them 100% of the time. Employees often wonder
what is wrong with bosses who don't take action when there is an employee violating standards.
Second, DWYSYWD means modeling the behavior you expect from followers and modeling the values the company says it lives by.
If you've said you value work life balance, then regularly go home at a reasonable hour and insist that employees take vacation due
them. Many organizations say they want an empowered workforce, but few practice it. Leaders who say they want an empowered
workforce will start the process by delegating work and the responsibility level required to do the work. Once everyone is comfortable
with that level then the leader will set goals within the organization's value and let employees decide what should be done to
accomplish those goals. The best DWYSYWS leaders, when practicing empowerment, also make room for mistakes and what can be
learned from them.
To be a better leaders always DWYSYWD.
Quick Hits
- Want to be sure people use the training you've sent them to? Then…
- Meet with them prior to training and state your expectations for what they will do differently when they return
- Meet with them after and ask for an action plan applying what they've learned
- Follow up with them on the action plan and congratulate success!
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