You don’t have to admire someone’s behavior to learn from it.

Some of the most influential people in your leadership journey will never know they influenced you.

And not all of them will inspire you because they were great leaders.

Sometimes, they inspire you because they were bold enough to show you exactly who they really were.

You watch how they treat people when nobody important is watching.

You see how they handle pressure.

You notice whether they accept responsibility or immediately search for someone else to blame.

You watch what happens when their authority is questioned, when someone disagrees with them, or when there is nothing personally to gain from doing the right thing.

That is when the leadership lesson begins.

There have been people throughout my career who taught me exactly how I wanted to lead.

There have also been people who taught me exactly how I never wanted to lead.

Both mattered.

A poor leader can teach you the importance of listening.

An arrogant leader can teach you humility.

A leader who takes all the credit can teach you to recognize your team.

Someone who disappears when things go wrong can teach you what accountability really looks like.

And a leader who treats people differently depending on their title can teach you the value of treating everyone with dignity.

The key is paying attention.

You don’t have to admire someone’s behavior to learn from it.

Sometimes the lesson is simply:

“I never want the people I lead to feel the way this person just made me feel.”

That realization can change the way you lead for the rest of your career.

So when someone shows you who they really are, pay attention.

They may be giving you one of the most valuable leadership lessons you’ll ever receive.

Great examples teach us what to become.

Sometimes the other examples teach us just as much.

Either way, learn from them.

Then be better.

As always, if you need help being the Leader your people deserve…

I am not hard to find!