It’s easy to execute a particular practice. The difficult part is executing the practice well. This applies with any trade, any profession and anything we do. That’s why we have professional sports people, professional tradespeople, and professions in general. It takes a long time to get good at anything.

One thing I’ve learned from observing great leaders and less than great leaders is that those that make a big difference follow the words they say. Less than great leaders talk in one way, yet act completely incongruently with what they said. Some leaders don’t realise this, believing that what they say is enough to motivate people. The result is that people get confused, defaulting to the behaviour they see, not the words that are spoken.

The lesson here: It’s important understand what people hear because that can be different, and to ensure that what you do follows what you say if you really want the message to get across.