What is leading by example?
Leading by example means making your stated expectations observable in your own decisions, habits, treatment of people, and response to mistakes.
Examine whether your visible choices reinforce the standards, values, and accountability you ask of other people.
Answer as you are today
Choose the answer that best describes your recent behaviour at work. No email required.
What does leading by example mean?
Leading by example means making your stated expectations observable in your own decisions, habits, treatment of people, and response to mistakes.
Why it matters at work
People compare what leaders say with what leaders reward and do. Consistency supports trust; exceptions, hidden trade-offs, and unacknowledged mistakes can make even sensible standards feel optional.
What this assessment measures
Words & actions
Applying the standards you communicate, including when doing so is inconvenient.
Respect & fairness
Showing through everyday conduct how people should be treated and decisions should be made.
Ownership & repair
Owning mistakes, accepting feedback, and visibly correcting course.
How to interpret your score
Your overall result is normalised to a 0–100 scale. Use it to choose a practice area, not to compare your worth with somebody else.
Build your leading by example foundation
Your answers point to a few situations where one deliberate practice could make this capability more dependable.
A developing leading by example pattern
You show this capability in some conditions. Start with the dimension that becomes least reliable under pressure.
A strong leading by example pattern
Your answers suggest a reliable pattern. Keep testing it with harder situations and feedback from people affected.
Designed for reflection, not diagnosis
The ten behaviour-based statements cover 3 practical dimensions. Responses run from “Never” to “Almost always”; negatively worded items are reverse-scored. Overall and dimension results are converted to a 0–100 scale. The assessment is educational and has not been psychometrically validated.
Read the full assessment methodology and editorial standards.
Research that informed this page
Michael E. Brown, Linda K. Treviño, and David A. Harrison (2005), “Ethical Leadership: A Social Learning Perspective for Construct Development and Testing”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.