Live Your Creed: The Leadership Lesson in Action
Live Your Creed
By Langston Hughes
I’d rather see a sermon
Than to hear one any day
I’d rather one should walk with me
Than merely tell the way
The eye’s a better pupil
And more willing than the ear
Fine counsel is confusing
But example’s always clear
And the best of all the preachers
Are the men who live their creeds
For to see good put in action
Is what everybody needs
I can soon learn how to do it
If you’ll let me see it done
I can watch your hands in action
But your tongue too fast may run
And the lectures you deliver
May be very wise and true
But I’d rather get my lesson
By observing what you do
For I might misunderstand you
And the high advice you give
But there’s no misunderstanding
How you act and how you live
The Leadership Lesson in “Live Your Creed”
Langston Hughes captured in poetry what leadership scholars still teach today: the power of example outweighs the power of words. Leadership that inspires does not begin with speeches, slogans, or strategies. It begins with integrity and consistency. People follow what they see before they follow what they hear.
A leader who “lives their creed” is one whose actions reflect their values. They model fairness in decisions, humility in success, and courage in conflict. They do not have to demand respect; their behavior earns it.
This kind of leadership turns vision into visible reality. It turns trust into culture. It makes leadership not a position, but a pattern worth imitating.
The Mirror of Leadership
Every leader stands before a mirror of their own making. The reflection is not crafted by their words but by their daily choices.
If you want to know the quality of a leader, look at their team. Are people thriving, growing, and contributing creatively? Or are they cautious, silent, and afraid? The leader’s reflection is always seen in the people they influence.
Hughes reminds us that “example’s always clear.” Leadership clarity comes not from complexity but from character. A leader’s walk teaches louder than their talk.
Leadership as Embodied Integrity
Hughes writes, “I’d rather see a sermon than to hear one any day.” Leadership, then, is lived theology. It is how belief becomes behavior. When a leader treats every person with dignity, honors their word, and takes responsibility when things go wrong, they preach a sermon no words could match.
Integrity is not about perfection; it is about alignment—between values and actions, between what you say and how you live.
Every choice either reinforces your creed or reveals its absence. Every action either builds trust or breaks it.
Leading from the Second Chair
You do not need a title to live your creed. Leadership from the second chair—those who support, follow, and serve within organizations—is just as vital.
Your consistency, your quiet strength, and your visible commitment to values can often influence more deeply than authority ever could. When leaders above you fail, live your creed anyway. Let your light speak where their shadow falls.
The best teams rise not only because of those in charge, but because of those who embody integrity from every position.
A Reflection and a Challenge
Leadership is not perfection; it is direction.
Hughes calls every leader, every teacher, and every human being to a higher standard: let your life be the message.
When others look at your leadership, may they see patience in pressure, grace in growth, and courage in conflict. May your walk align with your words, and may your creed be visible through the lives you touch.
Because in the end, people remember not what you said, but what you lived.