You are setting the bar

As soon as you are in a formal leadership position - willingly or not - you have more eyes on you.

People get interested in what you are doing, they compare you to other leaders, they maybe even get inspired by you - who knows.

That’s why you need to pay a lot of attention on how you act from the moment on you are called a leader.

And it’s not only about the good behaviors, it is especially about your bad behavior - or better said your worst behavior. Because the worst behavior that you show sets the bar.

If you don’t put your cup in the dishwasher then that’s accepted behavior - “The boss also isn’t doing it”. If you always show up a minute late to every meeting, again, that becomes your meeting culture. If you don’t answer messages or always answer late, guess what, accepted behavior. If you deliver your work in the last minute, it will become the normal way of doing it.

The good part here; you have a lot of influence. Show good behavior and also recognize the effort others are doing.

If you are seen loading and unloading the dish washer, people will do the same. If you are always there on time and start on time - people get used to it. If you answer mails timely, it will become the norm. If you deliver work ahead of the deadline, your team will get used to doing the same.

There is an excellent article that a colleague of mine send me about this behavior, you can find it here.