One of the most important things a leader can do is lead by example. One of the most important and overlooked characteristics of a good leader is consistency or predictability. Regardless of the management or leadership training you take, be it a management workshop, a leadership webinar, or a book on management or supervision, you must recognize the importance of consistency and predictability in a leader and practice steps to be as consistent as possible. .

Why? There are four main reasons. First, we live in unpredictable and uncertain times. When people go to work, they want as much certainty as they can. Second, leaders must be disciplined, and if you can’t control your own behavior and attitude, how can you expect the people who follow you to control theirs? Third, and the reason you will likely cause you to make a change if you are currently not consistent, being inconsistent causes your employees to waste valuable time. They spend time worrying about the direction you are going to jump in and this is the time when they could be doing their job. Fourth, if you model inconsistency and unpredictability, you will create a culture of inconsistency and unpredictability.

First, do any of you doubt that we live in uncertain times? A real estate bubble bursts, the stock market turns, unemployment goes from 4% to 20% in real terms in many places, inflation occurs and the revolution shakes the countries of the Middle East. People worry about losing their job, missing work hours, or moving their plant or office. If we can make the work as consistent and predictable as possible, they will appreciate it more.

Second, how many of you know someone whose moods and behavior vary depending on the fight they had with their husband or girlfriend, their blood sugar level, the demands placed on them at work, the stages of the moon, who knows what causes his madness? Do you enjoy working with these people? Do you consider that they are management or leadership material? Is it a pleasure to have you around? Do you like to have to check the mood of these people before talking to them, ask them a question, assign them work, or God forbid if they are your boss, ask them for the resources you need?

Third, think about how much time and money workers are wasting if their boss is inconsistent. The good or bad that is the direct boss of a person constitutes a great part of his work happiness. If you have a great boss, he can make even the most disgusting job at least bearable. If you have a bison son as your direct boss, he can make the best job look like a prison sentence. If you have ten people working for you and they spend even five percent of their time checking your mood, then you have wasted half of one person’s work every day. Do the math by multiplying ten people by 5 percent. That’s half a person. They will most likely waste ten to twenty percent of their time worrying about what the mad boss is doing and why. Then when you do the math you’ll find that your staff of ten is actually 8 or 9 people.

Fourth, if you model inconsistency and unpredictability, you will create a culture of inconsistency and unpredictability. Think about the behaviors you see in your organization now. Put them on a list. Do the meetings start on time? Do people give each other away? Otherwise, it is very likely that you will model the start of the meetings on time. If people don’t give each other away, it is likely to discourage upward movement in the organization by people informing each other.

So what can you do to be consistent? Here are your action items.

1. Do all the things that help you stabilize yourself. Eat well and regularly, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, do something fun, keep a journal. Do not read blogs or watch television that drives you crazy. If someone affects you, stay away from them until you know how to let it go. You know what to do.
2. Check your mood every morning when you get up and head to work. If everyone on the freeway is trying to kill you and the lights are taking forever and everyone in the cafeteria is in a really bad mood, it could be you. Okay, it’s you.
3. Ask someone you trust to be your accountability partner for consistency.
4. Study a bit of psychology, focusing especially on distorted thought patterns.
5. Get your return on investment by creating a workplace where people worry less, are happier, and are more productive.
6. Enjoy a better home life, because if your employees go crazy over the fact that you are an emotional yo-yo, your family probably wants to medicate you too.