Page 130 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

You Fit In • 111

adult, just as you did as a child. When you were a kid, you acted out your
dreams. You dressed and spoke like a cowboy, an actress, or a fireman.
Similarly, as a leader, you need to act out being a leader.
Talk yourself into it. Remind yourself. Say, “I’m going into this, and
here’s how I have to behave.”

A company video conference showed one manager who sloppily
slouched throughout the meeting. A short time after the conference, he
was demoted a pay grade and ultimately let go because people couldn’t
forget and get past the mental picture of him. He should have acted more
interested.
People believe what you show them, not tell them. You need to
“look” like what people have come to expect in a leader. It’s not in the
clothes you wear (that’s only a small part of it) or an accoutrement of
power around you, but it’s your bearing, manner, and comportment that
cause people to have confidence in you and your decisions.

You’re scared all the time, but you have to hide it. It’s the price you
pay to play the game.
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It’s a little like the tinsel-town description of acting: standing up
naked and turning around very slowly.

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CEOs are not thrilled every morning when they come to work. Some-
times they’ve had a fight with the wife or the kid didn’t come home
the night before, but they can’t be grumpy. . . . The day I gave the
best speech of my life, according to my staff, was the day after my
life had started to fall apart, having been told I might have to file for
bankruptcy. Regardless of how I felt, I couldn’t show it.

When talking about 9/11, President Bush said, “I had to act as calm
and resolute as possible because I knew people were watching.” And this
is not only reserved for modern-day presidents. President Washington was
described by a biographer as a “master of political stagecraft. All his life,