Zits and Leadership

April 4, 2011 by Kim.

I recently had the unfortunate experience of having a rather large blemish emerge on the plumpest area of my cheek. It was ugly and it attracted a lot of attention. Oh, people were very kind and didn’t say anything out loud, but I caught them fighting with themselves to keep their eyes from drifting over and landing on the volcano on my face.  I considered covering it with a bandage, but instead used my tried and true green cover stick. Green is supposed to neutralize the red. Alas in this case, it was so far gone nothing helped no matter the color. Then something interesting happened. The poor souls who were forced to attend a meeting with me or who spent more time than a passing, “how are you,” couldn’t help subconsciously fingering their own cheeks at the very spot my blemish lived. It was as if scratching their own cheek would make the bump on mine disappear. It’s kind of like people wiping their own nose when you have, well, debris in yours. Anyway, this experience led me to a leadership observation (yes, I’m tying zits to leadership–hold on).

Leaders are watched. Their employees, their peers, and others watch them much of the time. Good leaders are imitated, and I mean that in a good way. Much like subconsciously trying to make your zit disappear by picking at their own cheek, your followers will copy your behaviors. If you regularly thank people for a job well done, or keep a smile on your face most of the time, or go out of your way to provide outstanding customer service, your followers will start doing the same. You’ll notice them thanking each other and making sure they go above and beyond in helping customers. But make no mistake; if you happen to be a not-so-good leader, they’ll copy those behaviors too. Flying off the handle, accusing people without knowing the facts, dragging others through mud, you name it. 

So the next time you have a prominent zit that others can’t help noticing (or maybe start now), make sure you’re demonstrating qualities and behaviors that you’d like to see your team member’s display. 

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