I recently observed a leader, who is high on the org chart of their organization, enter a room filled with their employees, walk up to a table where another person had placed their stuff, move that person’s stuff, and take the other person’s seat.

It was a shocking display of entitlement, disregard, and disrespect.

But it wasn’t anything new.

On another occasion, I was sitting in a cafe area reading and saw this same leader walk from one end of the room to the other without ever acknowledging any of the employees who were there.

Again, I was stunned at what I was seeing.

But I was also filled with sadness for this person’s direct reports.

Because a leader who takes another person’s seat is also a leader who takes another person’s ideas.

And a leader who ignores their employees will also ignore those employees’ contributions.

And a leader who demonstrates blatant disregard for others is also a leader who will throw others under the bus when things go wrong.

And a leader who treats people poorly will create a poor work environment.

Yep, you can tell a lot about a leader by where they sit at the table and whether or not they respect the others who are at the table.