Today I want to talk to you about two things you do as a leader that annoy the people you lead.
I got a call from one of my good buddies who was having a struggle with his team. He felt they were always annoying him or he was annoying them. There was always some conflict. His team constantly bickered and behind the scenes talked about what he was doing. He discovered what people said about him through other people.
2 Things that Annoy the People You Lead
There are two things you'll do that will annoy the people you lead.
#1: Setting a Bad Example
Setting a bad example is one of the things you do as a leader that annoy the people you lead.
If you tell people to do something and you're not doing it yourself, that will annoy the people you lead. They will say things like,
Why are you telling me to get to work on time, but you always come to work late yourself?
Why do you tell me to read and you don't read yourself?
Why do you tell me to do ___________ and you don't do it yourself?
Telling the people on your team to do something that you don't do yourself is a guaranteed way to irritate and annoy the people you lead.
#2: Setting a Good Example
The second thing you can do that will irritate and annoy your team is when you set a great example.
Yes, when you set a great example, it is also annoying. You may do everything right, and they'll be annoyed because of it.
This is because when you set a good example, you may annoy the people you lead because they'll feel like you act like you're perfect.
My Father Used to Annoy Me
As a father of three kids, I think back on how my father raised me. He set a great example. Many times I got upset with him because of his good example. He got up every morning between 5:00 and 6:00, drove to work and came home. He worked very hard every week. He was, and still is a great guy.
He's a good handyman. He makes things and can fix things when they break. My wife always calls him to fix things because he's such a good handyman. And I'm not the best handyman in the world. He's also very good at surprises.
He's so good at these things that it used to irritate me. When I was a young man, I used to look at him and think, You know what? I'm so sick and tired of my dad setting all these great examples.
Now that I'm a husband and father, I am so grateful for the fact that I had a father that set a good example, even though it annoyed me at the time.
He still challenges me and pushes my buttons to get the best out of me. And as many times as I wanted to run away, I am till today so grateful for what that man did in my life.
You Have to Be Okay with Being Alone
So remember leaders, when you decide to be a leader, you have to be okay with being alone. You've got to be okay with the fact that you are not going to please everybody. You have to be okay with the fact that sometimes you will annoy the people you lead.
But remember this. If you have a choice between annoying your team because you set a bad example or because you set a good example, always choose to be a good example.
Be a better leader, a better businessman, a better human being, a better worker, even if it means that you annoy the people you lead.