In today’s workplace achieving set forth goals can sometimes overshadow what I consider one of the most important parts of leadership and that is building a strong relationship with those you lead. It is taking those you lead on a journey with you versus pulling them along the ride so you can achieve your goals. When you take those with you, I encourage you to focus on people you serve and lead as well as goals being achieved.
Here are three things that will help you to focus on people:
- The person matters – people spend enormous amounts of time at work. They make sacrifices to ensure their work is done. As a leader, focus on building a strong relationship with each team member because this will positively impact them as people. It is really important to genuinely care about those you lead. It’s okay to sit down in the break room and have a cup of coffee with one of your team members. Everything shouldn’t be a meeting to discuss what they are or are not doing. A conversation about the weekend game and how their son that’s off to college doing. As a leader I recently had someone on my team that needed to miss the team meeting whose son turned eighteen that day, thus she informed me that she would log into our meeting while having dinner with her husband and their eighteen year old son. I stated to her that “is unacceptable and your son only turns eighteen once.” Needless to say she didn’t log in to the Zoom meeting.
- Their interests matter – those you lead will have an interest in something and as you get to know them having knowledge of one of their interests is great. For example, a young man that I coached loves to grill out and barbecue for his family. It’s a passion of his. I learned that during one of our coaching sessions. Thus, during the summer months I would ask if he had planned to cook out and with a large smile he said yes! Why does this matter? If you want to lead then knowing at least one small interest and asking about it from time to time shows that you care. When your team knows you care they will go the extra mile because you took the time to care about their interests.
- Their success matters – leaders that want nothing but the best for those they lead will get the best from them. If you express and exhibit your desire for them to succeed (in the job you hired them for) this type of leadership will strengthen the professional relationship with your team members. I encourage you to never become overly concerned if someone is leaving for another opportunity. If you learn to treat your team with respect, and dignity while supporting their growth. When or if they move on for another opportunity then it’s a mark of your great leadership that you’ve prepared them for their next big opportunity. But when you display insecurity and a desire for one not to succeed it’s the mark of unfruitful and disgraceful leadership.
In closing, be mindful of the article in Forbes In Leadership, Relationships Matter Most, “without a relationship, there is no trust. Without a relationship, there is no extra effort. Day after day, people do not come to work for a time clock. They come to work for a person. And for them to give anything other than the minimum, they must have relationships with that person. I have made it my life’s work to try to form meaningful relationships with those I meet, especially those I spend hours with at work. We spend an incredible amount of time with the people we work with. Why not build relationships with them?” If you need assistance or support as a leader feel free to reach out to E3 Leadership Institute, (www.e3leadershipinstitute.com) we are here to serve you. Inspiring leaders to lead with purpose and passion!
Question for you to consider: On a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest, how would you rate your relationship with your team? You may want to consider the three ways I provided as a gauge.