4 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Dad

I will always be grateful for my dad and all that he taught me. Here are four leadership lessons in particular that I learned from how he lived.

1) Who you are when no one is looking is who you are

This is something my dad would say often. The true character of a leader (and any person) is who they are and what they think they can get away with when no one is looking or when no one will know. And as we know, at some point who you really are gets revealed. Great leaders take their integrity seriously.

2) Who you are in public should not be different than who you are at home

I heard often from people, especially after my dad died, how much respect people had for him, his character, and how he treated other people. We all know stories of people who can put on a great show in public, but in private are much different people. What everyone didn't see like I was able to (not that they would be surprised) was that that really was who he was.Truly great leaders aren't putting on a show in order to get something from people or to appear to be someone they are not. They are consistent no matter the time or place.

3) People are always the most important thing

I still remember one Wednesday evening as a kid when we were eating at Subway near our house (we went there a good bit together). My Dad got to know the manager of the store pretty well, so they were talking. I was getting impatient because I hate being late to things, and we had Wednesday night church activities to get to. I’ll never forget when we left, he got in the car and said, “Dylan, people are always more important than a church service or something else you have to go do.”That has always stuck with me. Not just because it makes sense and we would all agree with that statement, but because he actually lived it. It is so easy to get busy and distracted and to not value people like they deserve. Great leaders make it a priority to keep people first.

4) Always do what you say you are going to do

All kids get in trouble growing up. The problem for me was that whenever I got in trouble, I knew there was no way I was getting out of a punishment. My other friend's parents would often forget or not follow through with a grounding (or something similar) or give in after a short while. Not my dad. If I was grounded for a week, I would be grounded for the whole week. If I was told that I would receive some discipline at a later date, you better believe I was still going to be disciplined at a later date. I share that because it is just one example about how he always kept his word. Even today, if I tell someone I am going to do something (even if I don't want to do it) and they forget about it, I still have to do it because of what he taught me.Great leaders follow through at all times, even with things they may not want to do.