Be the pattern
Paul on the leader as model
Paul tells Titus that as a leader he must, in all things, show himself a pattern of good works. Not merely teach good works — be the working model of them. The instruction assumes that people learn far more from what a leader does than from what he says.
A leader is always teaching, whether he means to or not; his life is the curriculum his people actually absorb. Words set the standard, but the leader's example shows whether the standard is real.
“In all things show yourself an example of good works.”
— Paul, to Titus — Titus 2:7 (WEB)
Don't just prescribe; embody. Be the working model of what you ask of others — example outweighs instruction.
“Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Paul could say imitate me because his life backed his teaching. A leader formed here lives the standard he sets, knowing his example, not his words, is the real curriculum. He takes his own conduct as seriously as his instructions. The inner work is becoming the pattern you ask others to follow.
Model the behaviors you want before you require them. Assume people are learning from your conduct more than your memos, and act accordingly. When you ask something hard of your team, demonstrate it first. Let your life make your instructions credible.
Leaders rely on words and policies to set the standard while their own behavior quietly teaches something else. The blind spot is forgetting that example, not instruction, is what people actually absorb.
Name one standard you have taught but not modeled well. This week, embody it visibly before you ask it of anyone else.
Every leader is a model whether they intend to be or not; the only question is what they are modeling. People will quietly imitate what you do far more reliably than they will obey what you say.
If the people you lead simply copied your actual behavior rather than your instructions, what would they become?