Model BehaviorEmployees watch your every move, so make sure you set a good example.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Well done is better than wellsaid." For almost 2,000 years, sermons have been central tocommunicating moral instruction in hopes of improving behavior.Franklin was a leading advocate of people changing their behaviorfor the better. However, he believed that setting a good examplewas better moral instruction than preaching sermons.

Franklin understood well the concept of managing from thefishbowl. The cubicles of today's offices would seem private ifcompared to the printing houses in which he worked. Every movementand activity could be watched and judged by others working in theshop. In this environment, Franklin took great care to set apositive and powerful social example for his fellow workers. As aresult of this commitment to self-management, Franklin enjoyed agreat deal of influence among his fellow workers and fellowcitizens.

Excerpted fromBen Franklin's 12 Rules of Management