Small business owners have more latitude in their duties on any given day than their employees. Successful leaders are careful to not take advantage of their position. They lead by example and hold themselves accountable for the right reasons.
Police Yourself
Lead by Example
This Rule follows the same thought process as “Lead by example”. If you have set an expense policy with rigid restrictions, you need to follow it. If your small business has restrictions on computer use during working hours, you should follow it. It doesn’t matter if you own the company. People want to work for leaders that do what is right.
One of the worst examples of violating this rule is Ken Lay, the former CEO of Enron. His legacy is being the CEO of the largest United States bankruptcy to date in the year 2000. He was found guilty of 10 counts of securities fraud. He died of a heart attack in 2006 awaiting his sentencing. He knew that he was going to die in jail. This is an extreme case but it can happen at any level. If you are leading others, you have to hold yourself accountable.