As leaders, we all know that it’s the little things that count. A word of encouragement might just be rocket fuel for one person while a constructive suggestion serves as the same for another. Alternatively, ignoring or paying superficial attention to a topic that an employee deems important is a guaranteed way to demoralize and deflate a person.
It’s never the volume of time that you put into supporting someone, but the fact that you put in enough time to show that the person counts. Sometimes, all it takes is your decision to use fifteen minutes to make or break a relationship and impact a person’s life.
I’ve long believed that some of the key leadership missteps are caused by poor decisions on how to use time. As people move up the ladder as leaders, their sense of the value of their time as well as the quantity of available time changes dramatically. To many leaders, time is constantly in short supply and the value of their attention is at a premium. Don’t bother them with trifling issues, because they are busy people.
Be careful how you evaluate issues and conclude that they are not important enough to earn their way on to your schedule.
A Cautionary Tale:
A colleague of mine lamented his own misuse of time recently. A good employee was facing some tough personal challenges along with a professional choice to move into a new role. This move had been delayed by a few months due to work and personal factors, and now the employee was staring at the need to make a decision. The passage of time had blurred some of her enthusiasm for the role and she requested fifteen minutes of my colleague’s time to reset on the role and next steps. She had communicated that it was possible that she didn’t want to proceed.
Instead of engaging in the discussion, my colleague dismissed the request to talk and told the employee to think carefully about the role and to let him know if she was going to proceed. While he wasn’t face-to-face with the individual after indicating that there would be no more talking about the job and next steps, he realized that he had made a mistake just by the sound of the person audibly deflating on the other end of the phone.
The employee quit the next morning.
The Bottom-Line for Now:
In hindsight, my colleague reflected that his primary reason for pushing off the conversation was that he sensed it would be filled with all sorts of personal baggage. He could tell that there were issues other than the position at play, and he decided that he didn’t want to play life counselor. In his time since the incident, he now understands that he completely whiffed on handling the situation.
It would be nice to never have to deal with personal baggage, but on the other hand, every one of us brings our own personal baggage along with us to work everyday. It’s who we are, and we don’t check that bag at the front-desk on the way into the office and then pick it up again on the way out.
While there are lines that are easily crossed where the leader should advise the worker on sources for help, those personal/professional conflicts that swirl in people’s minds at the point of a decision are fair game and worth investing your valuable time in as you plow through your day. And remember, as a leader, your time is much more valuable to others than it is to you. (Yeah, I know this seems counter-intuitive, but it’s true.)
Spend the extra fifteen minutes today to help someone sort something out. You’ll both be glad that you did.
Great suggestions Art. Thanks for the post. It sounds like your friend has a bit of a history with this type of challenge. Fifteen minutes might have saved the day or started the turn-around, but the habit of considering others more important than yourself is the real value. When you can do that, you make the right response to interruptions naturally.
Mike…
Mike, well said! Thanks for reading and commenting. -Art
Such an important topic, Art! Those who are promoted to leadership are often driven and decisive and have learned to triage tasks and time as a survival skill. Being seen as leadership material because they get things done, may get them the job, but it is often the soft skills and emotional intelligence (empathy, in your example) that creates the tipping point in making a leader successful.
Jeanne, as I indicated to Mike above, “well said!” Thanks for reading and sharing. -Art
Hi Art,
Great post! I think as a leader it is extremely important to engage our employees whether it’s for as long as an hour or as little as 5 minutes. Taking the time to get to know our employees and listen to their needs (professional and even some personal) can really make for powerful working relationships that can lead to a team/company’s success. I especially appreciate your statement that a leader’s time is more valuable to others than it is to the leader. Though this may be hard to internalize at first, it is so true. Time management is not just about managing time to finish projects and tasks, but it should also include the time it takes to make sure your employees are getting the attention they need as well. The ability to understand and use this skill separates great leaders from the rest.
Great reminder Art! It’s all too often that we all forget that while at work, people are still going to behave as such. The time taken to acknowledge people truly makes a big difference. The most effective boss I have had was an extremely busy, high level executive who took a few moments everyday to touch base with everyone in the office. His willingness to make himself available had a huge, positive effect. Reading your post immediately reminded me of him and the importance of taking time to value people. Again, great reminder!
Melissa and Mackenzie, thanks for adding your comments. I love your perspectives on the topic and glad that this served as a reminder. -Art
I so agree and how unfortunate it appears to be for your colleague! However, I am glad to read that he got the “lesson”. At the core of our being, we all want to feel as though we belong. Creating the sense of belonging creates loyalty, higher productivity and stimulates creativity. We will all move on searching for that sense of belonging if we do not feel it at our present place of employment or we will resort to starting those nasty cliques! Case-in-point: While working at a large university I was asked by a group of professionals if I wanted to join their club – The Bottom Feeders! I couldn’t run fast enough! Enough said!
Art, I am becoming a big fan of your BLOGS. This post emphasizes the importance of personal attention to your employees just as your “tell me a story” post did. Employees need to know their story is going to be heard, and giving them the time to tell their story allows them to know you care.
As in your colleague’s situation, they found out the expense of showing they didn’t care by not taking the time to handle the situation. But, it is not just your colleague whom this has happened to, I have suffered from the affects of not taking time to talk to employees and cohorts. We must make sure to take the 15 minutes to work with others. In business, it is the personal touch that helps make a successful leader.
Pat and Gene, thanks for adding your thoughts here. Pat, right you are. The fancy phrase of “Organizational Citizenship Behavior” ‘jumps to mind, but I like your much more human and humane description! Glad you resisted “The Bottom Feeders.”
Gene, it’s always great to have another fan. With you, I think that makes one! I completely agree with you on the “the personal touch.”
Thanks to both of you and to everyone adding your thoughts to what I believe is an important topic. -Art
Art,
Working as an entry leveI employee, I can competely agree. I work under a former CEO of a national company, and some days my mind is just not there. For example, today I was extremely exhausted and felt like my mind was not working right, not to mention it was the middle of the afternoon. My boss called me out on it, but backed it up with positive/constructive feedback and a short personal conversation. It was just the thing I needed to get re-energized and finish up all my loose ends. The next thing I know it was time to leave! Oh how a little bit of time to your employees goes a long way!
Kelsey, good for your boss and great for you taking the constructive feedback constructively! Great example. -Art
this is a great reminder to tend to things based in importance rather than time. Especially when it comes to people all too often in our pursuit of efficiency costs us our effectiveness in tending to what really matters.
There are two take-home messages that I love in this piece of yours, Art. The first one being that leaders need to remember that they are there to serve those who work under them, not the other way around. We still treat leadership as a status symbol, of being a position of prestige, when we really need to view it as a privilege to be in a position to be of service and help to others.
The second message is one I wrote about on my blog a few weeks back and that is the importance of bringing our humanity back into the workplace. We have to stop saying ‘it’s nothing personal; it’s just business’ because we’re not robots, we’re people and we simply can’t expect people to turn off what makes them unique – if not also what attracted us to hire them as a part of our team when we first interviewed them – if we really want our businesses to be able to grow and develop.
Thanks for the great reminder, Art.
Hi Art –
When I read this post, I was reminded of your attention to compliment good customer service. You and other good leaders have influenced many people this way. I also try to thank people for good service, whether on the phone, at a store or in a drive-thru. I’ve encouraged some great people to move up from an hourly role to a salary role by highlighting their skills in customer care. Whether a manager or just a positive consumer, we can all influence someone’s life path.
Thank you for a positive message!
Susan, Tanveer and Penny, thank you all for reading and commenting. Penny, thanks for remembering and for paying it forward! -Art
Hi Art,
Thanks for the cautionary tale! One piece of unsolicited advice I have is don’t overlook the value of even 15 seconds. When people come up to you at your desk, lock your screen (hit the windows key and L at the same time).
This way you will look your employee in their eyes, instead of watching for new emails, etc. Additionally, but focusing 100% on them you may actually be saving time since you will fully understand what they need to communicate right away.
Good luck out there!
Nicole
Nicole, right you are! Thanks for reminding us. -Art
Beautifully put Art. Most people (management or else) use time constraint as an excuse to skip effective communication. I’ve learned that effective communication is one of the best management tools. Without knowing what people are like, there is no way you can manage them. There are very few rules that apply to all people. You have to know each individual to be able to effectively manage them or leave them alone to inspire them to be more creative.
To me, a manager’s majority of time should be spent on communicating with people. Let’s not forget, though, listening is even more important than talking.
Thanks for the post.
-Ali