Do you pass the donkey test?

“…she is a typical herd animal and will follow whoever she thinks is the leader. However, if there is a new leader, she will test him and try to follow her own course. She will slow down, try to block progress and set her own pace and route and, basically, do whatever she likes”.

Sounds familiar? Do you get a vision of a certain team? Actually, this was the instruction before starting a hike with Winter: a 3-year old Belgian donkey, born in autumn (not kidding). During our summer holiday we decided to hike a day with a donkey. Not only handy to carry our backpacks or one of the tired children, but, above all, fun to have a lovely animal as companion during our hike. It turned out to be a real lesson in leadership.

 Before we could leave, the whole family received instructions in how to handle Winter. The most important instructions concerned starting to walk and stopping. For both actions there was a clear verbal command, a clear handling of the rope and, most important, a clear action of the leader. Flawless execution of all 3 and Winter would follow; if not, Winter would do whatever she liked and in addition, as promised by her owner, she did challenge each new leader during the day. Wandering through the Belgian forest, the whole process kept me thinking.

In business, leadership is about exactly the same. Many managers have gained background in their function via study, training and/or experience and know ‘the language’ of their job. They know which words to choose and they know what to say to their team. I am sure you also know others, who might have less background but know exactly how to behave in their role. They have the right relations, know how to dress and how to present themselves. Like with the donkey, words and behavior are important but not sufficient. Successful leadership requires the third element, actions, even more. All team members or employees can clearly see how a leader acts. The one thing that puzzles people is a conflict between words and actions of their leader. Unfortunately, I have seen too many examples of leaders saying one thing but doing the exact opposite, or expecting their employees to do something and doing the opposites themselves.

 Bottom line for me is that the actions and words of a successful leader are always perfectly aligned and he or she leads by example. When that isn’t the case, employees will keep testing the leader and ultimately stop following him. It is exactly like leading Winter.