Do As I Say vs. Do As I Do

This morning I attended a meet-and-greet event that was hosted by a local group which promotes the advancement of Latino businesses within the community. The event was somewhat interesting. The mayor was in attendance and mailed in a short, four-minute speech. Plus, it was a good excuse for me to get out of the office. What I found was most interesting, though, were the attendees at our company’s table. I was there as a fill-in for my boss, who is out-of-town. Of the eight other people at our table, four were also fill-ins.

Later that day, when I got back to the office, I reread the email chain that contained the original invitations for the event. The initial email had been sent from the head of marketing, who set up the bank as a sponsor of the event, to the Middle TN President, who is a lazy fuck. This lazy fuck passed the information on to his four Regional Managers along with a generic comment about how this would be a great networking opportunity for them. The Regional Managers then passed it along to the Center Managers with the same lame comments and additional drivel about how the bank needs to get involved with the Latino community. From there, at least five Center Managers had apparently gotten one of their underlings to fill in for them, thus explaining why I was there. Essentially, the task of attending this event was passed all the way down through the ranks until there was nowhere else for it to go. However, with each pass, everyone was sure to comment about what a great opportunity it was (but apparently not great enough for them to give a shit about it). This is a snapshot of why this place is such a disaster. It’s a bunch of lazy fucks who have made a career out of passing the buck.

Another eye opener happened at the actual event. The first eight of us to arrive gathered around our table and then took our seats. The ninth member to join us was arguably the highest ranking employee of the group. Upon arriving at the table, she immediately made the comment that this was a prime networking opportunity and we were all just sitting around not doing anything. For the record, she was probably right. The event hadn’t started yet and people were walking around networking. However, immediately after making this comment, she took her seat and never moved again.

The lesson here is the difference between “Do as I say vs. Do as I do”. The entire bank functions under the “Do as I say, not as I do” mentality. Everyone is a lazy fuck, including myself. However, it’s largely because we are all a product of our environment. People naturally adapt to their surroundings. Every manager has the right to demand whatever they want from their employees. They even have the right to literally say, “do as I say, not as I do”. When things don’t work out, they can get angry, reprimand and even fire people. They can give outlandish directives and expect unrealistic results. However, the one thing they can’t be is surprised when that style doesn’t work. Don’t you dare be surprised when people follow the lead you set. If you don’t give a shit about something, don’t be surprised when your employees don’t either. When you act like something isn’t important, don’t be surprised when your employees don’t take it seriously. We all have the option of leading by command or leading by example. The smart person understands this and chooses the latter.