You Can’t Exercise Exceptional Leadership from Your Couch

“Rank has its privileges.” “Do as I say, not as I do.” “I’ve earned my stripes.”

Those are all common phrases likely spoken by common leaders.

Exceptional leaders expect only the privileges enjoyed by all others. They do what they expect others to do. And they don’t stop “earning” benefits after they believe they’ve achieved them.

Exceptional leaders don’t ask their team to work on the weekends to meet a deadline and then fail to show up with the rest of the team. Exceptional leaders don’t leave early. They aren’t too busy enjoying the benefits of leadership to work alongside the members of their team during a tough assignment.

One of my leadership assignments involved a group that processed applications for several energy efficiency programs. Every once in a while, the number of applications for a program would rise sharply. The manager, one of my direct reports, would call for a mandatory Saturday to keep pace with the amount of work.

In order to leave earlier in the day, the group would vote to start at 6 AM—on a Saturday!

The first time that happened on my watch, I showed up. I didn’t have to show up, and no one expected me to do so. Besides getting a kick out of seeing me in shorts, everyone was thrilled to know that the boss was willing to make the same sacrifice they were making to be successful.

Are you an exceptional leader?