There is an old expression, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying”.

Employees will respect, trust, and even emulate leaders who walk the talk, and this will create a culture that reinforces the behavior and values of the leaders.

Walking the talk is important in the key areas of functioning that I have referred to in previous articles and videos. I used the three intelligences in my article and video on goal setting and it applies here as well.

The intellectual center of intelligence is the center that we use for planning, strategizing, and researching. Think of it as your logical brain or center of intelligence. Leaders who use this center effectively take the time to plan and strategize based on good research of information. They make smart decisions using their thinking capacities well. They also can communicate their plans and thinking coherently to their team.

The emotional center of intelligence or heart is the brain that we use to interact effectively with people. It allows us to use empathy in our conversations and this shows people we care and can listen well.

The physical/movement center of intelligence is the brain of action and is used to get things done. When used appropriately it makes us effective in carrying out our tasks.

The goal of a leader should be to develop their abilities in all three centers of intelligences so that they show good personal leadership in their thinking, feeling, and doing. The idea is to be well-balanced as a human being in all three of the centers of intelligences. This means continuously working on oneself to achieve this balance because we tend to be stronger naturally in one of the three intelligences.

For example, a great strategic thinker might take too much time researching and strategizing and be slow at making decisions on what to act on.

A strong emotional intelligent person may be great at listening and showing empathy but could avoid conflicts and confronting people, which is related to the physical/movement center.

The physical/movement center dominant person may act to quickly without thinking through possible outcomes or may be to harsh with people who do not perform as expected.

The idea is to look at yourself from the perspective of the three intelligences and assess what you need to work on and then set a goal to improve. You can consult my article on goal setting and download my goal planning form for this purpose.

Showing your team that you do not only say what to do but you work on doing it yourself will speak volumes. It will inspire and motivate people to emulate what they see is leadership in action.