Appearances

So I'm sure if you keep with the news you've heard about Ford, GM, and Chrysler and their attempts to "save" the US auto industry. The Big Three car manufacturers are in Washington today trying to secure some of the bail-out jackpot for their respective companies. Now, don't be confused...these CEOs are not doing all this for themselves. They seek to save the US auto industry and in the process secure multitudes of jobs for the American people (wink wink). There companies are hurting so badly that they can no longer afford to fly to Wal-Mart in their corporate helicopters and jump in their jets to go across the state. It's gotten really tough when you can no longer pay your $50k/yr janitor his christmas bonus.

Oh, now Ford CEO Alan Mulally says that if his company takes any government money...he will take a $1 per year salary. Pretty intelligent move, I agree. But here's the problem I see in this situation:

Like the boy who cried "wolf", these leaders have consistently sent the message that they only care about themselves. They didn't think before they jumped in their corporate jets to fly to Washington..."maybe we could get rid of these jets and we wouldn't need to take the taxpayer's money." They allow their companies to be ran into the ground by the greed of worker unions. Then, all of a sudden, Alan Mulally makes a brilliant leadership move. Through his agreement to take a $1 salary...he speaks volumes. But, his decision had ZERO INFLUENCE ON ANYONE!

We, as leaders, must be mindful of how we appear to the people around us. You will only have influence with your words in the context of your appearance. If you appear to never care about anyone...coldly dictating and bossing everyone around...and then one day you try to tell your team how much you care about them and want them to communicate with you about any problems they have...IT MEANS NOTHING!

Do your words and your appearance match up? If not, what do you need to do starting today?!