Show. Don't Tell.

Lazily scrolling through writing advice for authors, a small paragraph tucked in the corner of the blog post caught my eye. It's the plea for authors to "show and not tell."

Some of the best books I've read are those with words woven together to paint a picture of an event, allowing the reader to experience the depth of the writer's emotion or passion at the moment. It's those that allowed me to visualize what is happening, instead of plainly telling me what's up in the scene. Instead of telling me that the "someone is mad," I would rather read the words, "his emotions welled up inside, causing his breathing to get faster, his heart to speed up, his face to grimace under the pain of the moment, and his fists to clench for the first punch."

But is this not true in life and leadership as well? The best lessons we teach those whom we lead are those that we have already walked through (or walking through). The message has more substance when the messenger has lived it.

As we continue to lead others, may we SHOW, not just tell.

#show #tell #story #leadership #lessons #life #example