Numerous studies assess how politicians control and shape bureaucracy. Yet, how politicians as role models affect the norms and behaviors of bureaucrats has not been studied. This is a curious omission, in light of evidence that social norms shape bureaucratic behavior. We address this gap for one key behavior of political leaders: corruption. We argue that corruption by politicians models self-serving behavior as a norm, which undermines bureaucrats' perception of the state as a provider of services for others, leading to a reduction in their pro-social behavior. We provide evidence for this argument through a lab-in-the-field experiment with bureaucrats in Bangladesh. In a self-persuasion prime experiment, bureaucrats who recall episodes of political corruption donate significantly lower real monetary amounts to charity. Our findings underscore the importance of political leaders as role models for bureaucrats and the damage that political corruption does for pro-social behavior in bureaucracies