The valedictorian from a local high school spoke to a group I was in a few days ago. He was very bright, very articulate and clearly interested in community service activities. He was a counselor at a local summer camp last year. During that time he had the opportunity to engage with young middle schooler.

He remarked that at the conclusion all of the camp programs the sixth-grader gave him a heartfelt hug and thanked him for the contribution he had made to his life. He went on to say that until that moment he had no idea of the impression he was making on the young sixth-grader.

Perhaps you were the young middle schooler or the highschooler at some point in time in your life. This illustrates how someone in an authority job or position can make a major impact on somebody.

Most people in a position of authority are also thought of as the de facto leader. People generally look to people in authority roles as de facto leaders. It is typical the leader's day-to-day behavior will influence "followers".

In a traditional business situation somebody is typically the boss. That person is also considered the leader. This points out one or two interesting observations. This highschooler did not have a position labeled "supervisor".

It was not anything formal. The younger person simply looked up to the older person because of his status. This could be a teacher, coach, a policeman, someone with academic credentials, etc.

Leaders can profoundly affect others. It doesn't matter how they became the leader. He could've been formally or informally. Back to a business situation. All subordinates will look to their boss every day to check how the boss is feeling. Whichever way the boss is going, that's the way the employees are going to go.

Anyone in a leadership position must know this fact If you're a leader you've got to be aware of the impact you're making on others. If you're in a good mood it's very likely you'll notice that all your subordinates are in a good mood too. On the other hand, if you’re down and not feeling good, that mood will directly impact the performance, attitudes and behavior of the same people.

That is certainly not what you want.

That's why it's vital to learn and practice the attributes of leadership. Any little thing you do will be compounded by your team.

This means, of course, you can dramatically improve results by maintaining a positive attitude.

The failure to understand these dynamics will not change their impact. This is almost a natural law. Not understanding it or ignoring it won't make any difference.

If you are the leader, no matter how you got there, go away if you don't feel good. Best advice is to simply leave. Always be upbeat. If you can't be then don't stick around.