They know if you’re living it or if you’re not.
“Most people struggle to hold kids accountable anot because kids are defiant.
Most people struggle to hold kids accountable because they themselves aren’t accountable.
You can only teach well, what you prioritize & practice every day.
And they know when you ain’t living it.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It’s hard to teach or coach something that you don’t regularly practice.
The best military generals in history didn’t become the best by studying military history.
They became the best by being a part of history.
By walking through the fire & shooting the enemy in the face. Far more times than once, too.
Tours on top of tours of skin in the game, in high pressure environments.
That was their admission fee to gain the opportunity to guide and direct others effectively.
And while the role of a military general likely carries higher stakes than what you and I have going on in our day-to-day life, the theme remains the same.
I don’t care if you’re a strength coach, math teacher, or if you own a plumbing company.
If you’re a coach and you’re talking to kids about the importance of discipline, hard work, eating right, and getting to bed on time, but the last time you took the gym seriously was when the years started out 19.. your words are probably not going to carry much weight, right? Nobody gives a shit about your tenure, if you’re not currently living it.
And then think about a math teacher. It’s easy to coast once you know enough to teach what you need to. But the art of a great math teacher (or any teacher for that matter) is not “knowing the most about math” but improving your ability to deliver information effectively so that you can increase your impact potential on students. Are you working ferociously at improving your communication and teaching skills? If you’re not, they’ll know.
Lastly, let’s say you’re the owner of a plumbing company and you have a young subordinate who watches you operate. He’s green, but paying attention. Let’s say you do your job to a T, but then when you head to the truck, you leave some trash on the job site.. That nullifies everything you did well and teaches your apprentice that ALL shortcuts are acceptable.
If you want to hold others accountable, you can’t assume they’re just going to follow your intentions.
They are going to imitate your worst actions.
Your ability to hold them accountable hinges on your ability to hold YOURSELF accountable.
