The leadership attributes of the likes of Steve Jobs, Arianna Huffington, Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and numerous other famous business people have been sliced and diced, dissected and analysed innumerable times. While we all aspire to be like some of the greats, what can we learn from the everyday leader – these unknowns that don’t attract the attention of celebrity – who are making a significant difference in the lives of people who work for them? Let me share a personal story that happened a few years ago while travelling through India and has remained on my mind ever since. Summer 2017. Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, India. A normal Saturday afternoon. My wife and I walk into a well-known retail clothing chain store. She is looking for an unusual t-shirt. One of the shop assistants sees us and approaches us as most shop assistants are programmed to do. He holds up a sign which is hanging on a lanyard around his neck, which indicates his name is Piyush and that he is deaf. He signals with his fingers that he can lip read. “This is most unusual” I think to myself as I have not experienced this in countless retail experiences. My wife says she is looking for a t-shirt, Piyush lip reads her message correctly and he walks her over to a rack of t-shirts and she selects a few to try on. She asks him where the change room is, and he shows her where. She proceeds to try on the t-shirts. As I wait for her to come out I observe something unusual. The manager of the store, who has just finished speaking to someone on the phone, starts conversing with Piyush. He is conversing in sign language and this goes on for a few minutes. They are obviously sharing something humorous as they are both laughing. The store manager is totally engrossed in the interaction. I am struck by the authenticity and goodwill that is present in this moment. The banter is broken by my wife who comes out of the change room wearing the first t-shirt. Piyush gives her the “thumbs-up” sign and asks my opinion, “looks great” I say and she goes back to try on another. I observe the store manager who is now behind the cash register looking through some dockets. I walk up to him and we have the following exchange: Me: “I noticed that you were using sign language with your colleague.” Store Manager: “Yes sir. I was trying to sign. I am still learning.” Me: “How are you learning?” Store Manager: “I found a course through Google and I do some study and practice every evening after work.” Me: “Wow! That seems like quite an investment on your part.” Store Manager: “Well I’m learning something new.” Me: “So why do this? If Piyush can lip read, would you be able to get by without signing?” Store Manager: “Yes. We can get by and we have. But sir I want us to be able to have a two-way communication with him, not just one-way, from me to him. He is a smart guy and I want to hear his ideas and his opinions on how we can make things better in this store. I’m his manager so I also want to understand how he is doing and how I am doing as his manager.” I ask his name and he tells me it is Manick. I walk away as my wife has come out with another t-shirt on, I give the second t-shirt a thumbs up and she goes back in to try on a third. As I wait, I reflect on the interaction I have just had with Manick. I continue to observe him as he goes about his work. He offers a job to an applicant who has come into the store and embraces her emotionally, not physically, as he welcomes her to the company and agrees a starting date. She is thrilled beyond words and genuinely excited. I observe him taking in everything that is going on in the store, jumping in to support his team when they are busy. I am most impressed with this guy as there is definitely an X-factor about him. In my experience with retail chains, shop assistants are generally not treated with the respect they deserve. Store managers generally don’t care about the opinions of shop assistants, nor care about how they may be doing as their manager. It is very obvious to me that Piyush enjoys working for Manick. From everything I can observe in the 15 minutes in the store, he is fully engaged as an employee and completely connected with his manager. Manick is different and I can see, hear, and feel that this X factor is his leadership and personal presence. Deconstructing Presence In our work in Ariel Group , the company I lead in Australia, we have been working with leaders and professionals for over twenty five years to help them build their leadership and personal presence. We know from our experience with hundreds of thousands of leaders and professionals that presence is something that can be developed. Our purpose is to help leaders and professionals amplify their presence and show up as their very best selves. We deconstruct presence into four critical leadership skills which we call the PRES Model: Being Present: The ability to be completely in the moment, undistracted by anything past or future, sharp as a razor, and flexible enough to handle the unexpected. Reaching Out: The ability to build relationships with others through empathy, listening and authentic connection. Expressiveness: The ability to express feelings and emotions and energy appropriately by using all available means – words/voice/face/body – to deliver one congruent message. Self-Knowing: The ability to accept yourself, to be authentic, and to reflect your values in your decisions and actions. Applying Presence to Leadership So in that moment of reflection about Manick and his presence as a leader, he ticks every one of these boxes. As an everyday leader I observe him: • being Present – not pretentious • Reaching Out – not looking down • being Expressive – not trying to be impressive • being Self-Knowing – not self-absorbed I have no doubt that with the right guidance, this young leader is destined to become someone significant affecting the lives of many. He can go far in his business and personal life if he chooses to do so.  My wife comes out of the change rooms and she buys a couple of the t-shirts. I thank Manick and Piyush and ask their permission to take their picture on my smartphone. They are curious. I explain that I am a leadership consultant and constantly looking out for examples of leadership in action. Manick signs something to Piyush. They both seem chuffed at the idea. They smile and agree. So here is their story on that Saturday afternoon and in the photograph above, Piyush is on the left and Manick on the right.

“That is really impressive,” I say to a senior leader of a multinational technology services company as I remark on the floor-to-ceiling posters in the boardroom in which we are meeting. The posters are made up of striking images captioned with words like “Respect” and “Teamwork” and “Customer First” and a couple of others I can no longer recall. “Yes,” he replies “we commissioned an agency to produce the artwork of our company values. And it wasn’t cheap!” “Well, you certainly cannot ignore them,” I say. The senior manager who I have known for many years leans over and confesses “I wish I could say the same for the people of this company who ignore them with regular monotony”. He adds “Two years ago we went offsite for a couple of days and came up with our values as part of a strategic planning offsite. Ha! The good old days when times weren’t as tough as they are today. With the squeeze from our investors to ramp up profitability in an ultra-competitive market today, well, let’s just say those values are no longer front and centre. I am not sure how much meaning they really carry.” I found myself quite disturbed by the conversation as it brought up deep seeded emotions buried in me. I had travelled a similar path. How managers lose credibility Some years before when I was leading a team, we had gone offsite to define our strategy and values. When it came to selecting our top values it was unanimous that “Integrity” be one of our top five. We had the five values put on signs around the office. Some months later I discovered that one of my senior consultants was ‘moonlighting’ on company time. i.e., this person was doing paid work for a private client while they were on paid sick leave. This consultant was one of our top performers at the time and was bringing in more business than anyone else. I was angry beyond words and went to my boss with the request to dismiss this person. Clearly, they had violated our stated value of “Integrity” and it was clear to me that they needed to go. Or at the very minimum be placed on a final warning. My boss, a very bottom line focused businessman said to me “Business isn’t great and you want to fire one of our best revenue generators? What’s wrong with you?” Suddenly the perception of inadequate performance shifted from the moonlighting consultant to me. I was told not to raise the matter with this person as it may “destabilise” the revenue they were bringing in. The conversation distressed me greatly. What tormented me afterwards was that I just folded. At that stage in my career, I didn’t have the skills or the self-belief to stand up to and influence my boss as I needed to. I allowed something like integrity that was important to me, to be sidelined. How did this sad story end? I will share it later. I guess many of us reading this are familiar with scenarios such as this. Aspirational values are created in good times, but when times turn difficult, they are put aside. How employees become cynical How often have we seen frugality become more important than customer satisfaction or employee engagement? How many times have we seen pressure on the bottom line compromise quality standards? How would you feel witnessing command and control leadership replace the aspiration of empowerment? The result is increased levels of cynicism by employees. And for leaders who fold in such times as I had done, well they have started down the slippery slope of losing both the hearts and minds of their people. In those organisations where the treatment of publicised values don’t reflect reality, it becomes a breeding ground for cynicism and toxicity. Inspiring employees & building confidence There are champions demonstrating how it should be done. I read that Jeff Bezos of Amazon is known for his obsession with customers. He is quoted as saying “Start with the customer and work backward.” Bezos instigated a process in his management meetings in Amazon, that an extra chair is placed around the board table to represent the customer. When making decisions, they ask how the decision may impact the customer. Apparently, this practice is used extensively down the Amazon organisation. It may sound cheesy for outsiders, but I have heard that people inside Amazon say it really works. It reflects one of their values in action in a very visible way. Amazon is held up as the poster child for exceptional leadership. So whose job is it to ensure that the values are real and meaningful? If you are a leader at any level in your organisation reading this, then the answer is “it’s yours”. It needs to be reflected in your leadership behaviours. It is one of the few elements of your role that cannot be delegated. 3 Ways to create inspiring company values Here are three tips on how you can make values a source of inspiration rather than cynicism. As you prepare your agenda for your meetings, look for ways to integrate the values into the discussions and do it. People require evidence that you as a leader believe in the values. They need evidence that decisions are made explicitly around the core values. Highlight such instances. Evidence to back up the values removes cynicism. Ask people to share stories of how one or more values are being used by them and others across the business. First, stories are memorable. Second, it provides social proof – the reassurance that someone gets from others when they are unsure of the correct way to behave. Most of all you as a leader needs to project the leadership presence to show up with authenticity and transparency to your team around your organisation’s values. You require courage and self-belief to not fold as I did as a young leader. Leaders must learn how to show up as the very best version of themselves. I have witnessed such leaders go a long way to winning the hearts and minds of their people.  PostScript So what happened to that senior consultant who got away with moonlighting? In the proceeding months, his behaviour just deteriorated and he increasingly snubbed me and the company – the lack of action contributed to making the team climate toxic. Finally I found the courage to stand up for doing what is right, not what is palatable. I dismissed the moonlighter. The result? Trust in me as their leader increased. The team climate got remarkably better. Collaboration increased. People started referring their friends to join our team. Living our values was more than creative graphics on a poster. A lesson learned.