Last Tuesday, I was working at the polls, and I met a young father who had his son in tow. I remember doing the same thing when my children were little. This father believed that voting was important, and he wanted his son to understand that and to see him taking part in the electoral process. We talked for several minutes, and he said he had to get back to work. He was a restaurant manager, and he wanted to see if anyone who wanted to vote had done so prior to the polls closing. I commented on how great it is for organizations to recognize the importance of voting and give their employees time to exercise this precious right. He laughed and said, “It’s not a corporate policy. It’s mine.” He said he really didn’t have the authority to do things like that, but he felt it was important enough to bend the rules. His rationale made sense to me. All of his employees live within a few miles of the restaurant, and he asked them to vote before or after the lunch /dinner rushes. This act of civic engagement cost him almost nothing, but it meant a lot to his employees.

We can all learn about living our values from this leader.

• Lesson One: When something is important, we make time for it. How often do we allow something to slip by us simply because it wasn’t convenient or sanctioned by our boss or organization? Leadership means knowing and living our values, even when they may not be explicitly approved. It was important for the manager to vote and to teach his son about voting, so he took the time to bring his son with him to the polls.
• Lesson Two: Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than ask permission. The restaurant manager saw something that was worth doing, and he knew that getting permission would be a bureaucratic nightmare. So he assessed the costs and risk, and he took action. Sure, he took a minor risk. Someone up his management chain might have criticized his decision. He understood the risk, and he acted accordingly.
• Lesson Three: Living our values has a price, so we must he prepared to pay it. The restaurant manager acknowledged that letting his people vote on company time would mean extra work for him. He knew that he was going to have to make up for the lost productivity associated with his decision. Sometimes living our values costs a few extra hours of work. Other times living our values can be very costly. The small acts prepare us for the big ones, which lead us to lesson four.
• Lesson Four: Living our values takes practice. The importance of the manager’s decision to live his values in this seemingly minor way has implications beyond this one act. Every time we live our values and lead with them, we are preparing ourselves for the big tests we may face.

Leadership is all around us. We just have to look. Regardless of how you feel about the results of Tuesday’s elections, it is important to stop looking to Washington or our state capitals for leadership. Every time a politician disappoints us with their failure to lead, we should look closer to home. If we are looking, we will likely see neighbors, co-workers, and complete strangers leading in a way that can inspire us and remind us that we are all leaders. We may also notice our own acts of leadership and the opportunities all around us. We just have to know what is important to us and to be willing to act.