I love reading FlipBoard while on the elliptical. It’s much easier than a newspaper or book, and FlipBoard has a great variety of topics, articles and news.
Sometimes, an article catches my attention with a popping headline; but the content misses the mark. When I read this article, it was just the opposite. The headline caught my attention “The best way to help someone and add value to their life.” And the content took me in a completely different direction.
The story of Gandhi advising a woman on how to break her son’s chocolate addiction really took me by surprise. But I continued reading….the author had my attention!
What does chocolate have to do with leadership? The best way to help someone is to lead by example…the best way for Gandhi to help the child overcome addiction to chocolate was to first overcome his own addiction to chocolate.
This applies to anytime we are giving advice. We must be willing to follow our own advice before we pass it along to others. As Connors points out: “We all want to be influencers and thought leaders who help change the world in our own unique way. But what good are our words and ideas when they’re not backed by action?”
“We’re leaders when we back up our words with integrity. When we do what we say we’re going to do.”
If you want to do great things in this world, don’t just talk about it. Take action.
The next time you’re enjoying that delicious Dove Dark Chocolate, ask yourself, “am I leading by example?”