People do what people see. Leaders understand that they can never take someone where they have never been themselves. You cannot give hope to others if you yourself are not filled with hope. You cannot give what you do not have. When people see their leaders talking one way, but living another it will always break credibility and influence. Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said,

 “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”

I had a great basketball coach growing up named Larry. I will always remember him telling our team, “If you talk the talk, you better walk the walk.” In sports you can claim to be a great player, but the real test is when you get on the court. The same truth applies to life, leaders have to walk the talk. The hope of a team is the leaders responsibility. You cannot pass that responsibility to others. It is the leaders role to set the tone for the team. If that leader is a hope dealer than the team will be filled with hope. Author Norman Vincent Peale said,

 “Nothing is more confusing than people who give good advice but set a bad example.”

 People are not looking for leaders that are perfect, but they are looking for leaders who are genuine. If there is a certain behavior a leader desires from his people, he must first display it as the leader. You cannot expect others to raise the bar if you are continually lowering it. If a leader is not seeing hope fill the hearts of his people, they must first look in the mirror. Who you are is what your people will become like. People will follow the lead of the leader. So goes the leaders attitude and outlook, so goes the teams attitude and outlook. Leaders reproduce who they are. If you do not like what you see in your people you may need to change the way you are leading. Leaders believe in themselves. They believe they are the hope setters for their team. They live with the motto that says…It it’s to be, it’s up to me. Author Marcus Buckingham wrote…

 “The key thing about leading is not only that you envision a better future, but also that you believe, in every fiber of your being, that you are the one to make this future come true. You are the one to assume the responsibility for transforming the present into something better.”

 What you talk about you give other people permission to talk about. What you complain about you give others permission to complain about. What you do gives others permission to do. Leaders hold themselves to a higher standard than others. The hardest person a leader will ever lead is themselves. Great leaders push themselves further than anyone else ever will. Someone once stated, “If I could kick the person responsible for all my troubles I wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week.” If we are not leading ourself well, we cannot lead others well. If we are having trouble motivating ourself, we will have a hard time motivating others. The key is to make sure you go first as the leader. Think of yourself as a tour guide type of leader. Tour guides take people somewhere they have been before. They know how to navigate through the terrain because of their experience there. Don’t be like a travel agent type of leader. A travel agent doesn’t go with you and may have never been to where you are going. Lead by example. Lead from the front by modeling the behavior you desire to see. Ask yourself the question would you follow you? Would you be motivated by you? Would you be filled with hope if you were following yourself? If the answer is yes, then you are a tour guide type of leader. If you answered no, then you need to start challenging yourself to get out there and become the leader you need to be.