Actions Speak Louder than Words

Your actions (what you do) communicate more clearly than your words (what you say). It is as if they were louder than words. If you want people to believe your words, you should "speak" with your actions.

If you want to teach someone something or you expect them to learn something I believe you must show them how to do what you are asking them.

If you want your child to learn how to treat others the right way, you must first be willing to treat others right yourself. If you want your child to learn to clean a room, I believe you must show them how to clean the room. Children learn more from what we do than what we say.

I have interviewed for a lot of jobs and one of the basic questions that comes up in interviews is "What is your management style?" I always answer this question in the same way. I let the person know that I would never ask anyone to do anything that I am not willing to do myself. I think this fits in very well with the topic of this post. On the other hand I have worked with people that can not even send a fax or put a stamp on a letter.

I have been in a lot of meetings where a lot of talk (words) has taken place and really never any gets done (action). Usually what ends up happening is nothing. On the other hand I have been involved with groups where action is what takes place and in the end very few words have been exchanged but great things have taken place.

Example: "Don't tell me how to do this; show me! Actions speak louder than words."