Our People Are Our Clients

I wrote a short article last week about a leader who puts her people first and cares deeply about their success and wellbeing.

Before I posted the article, I hesitated, wondering if it was simply common sense and may not be a worthy article. However, I decided to go ahead with it, and much to my pleasure, I have received a lot of appreciative feedback from readers.

My Georgetown classmate, Eric Sullivan, a strong football player, even greater student, and an accomplished, successful attorney contacted me to say that the message definitely resonated.

Eric always made it a point to speak cheerfully with everyone in his law firm, which was a good size. Eric would regularly take the time to walk around and offer doughnuts to people, all levels, throughout the firm.

He was told that it meant a lot, that people did not feel taken for granted – just the opposite, they felt appreciated. Eric offered that it was not the doughnuts, it was the smiles and kind words.

I love this story, and it is not at all surprising to me, as I was close to Eric during our four undergraduate years at Georgetown and since, and I remember him speaking kindly, and only kindly, about everyone, always. He is a person with humility, and that says so much.

Following last week’s article, specifically that the leadership team and the rest of the people in the company being pleased that the CEO addressed “the elephant in the room”, someone, a very senior executive, asked me as a follow-up, to emphasize the importance of addressing a problem, a difficult situation, or a difficult team member promptly – it wears on people when a person in authority ignores a problem. That is not leadership!

As leaders, it is our responsibility, our duty, to have the difficult conversation. If we don’t, we become the problem!

And the issue very likely will only fester and become worse – and the cause of undue and unhealthy strain!

Earlier this week I responded to an inquiry from the media about the difference between a manager and a leader. I mentioned lots of differences, and in the interest of keeping this article short, here are just a few.

• Managers focus on numbers; leaders focus on people – as they appreciate it’s their people who achieve their results – and people who feel appreciated, valued and heard do their best work – thus, leaders generally achieve outstanding results, that is their teams do.
• Leaders ask great questions and listen with open minds to understand and learn. They realize that the best ideas are bottom up ideas.
• Leaders are out with their people. They walk the halls frequently, speaking kindly with everyone, and asking how they are doing. They are not in meetings and in their offices and conference rooms all day long. They genuinely care about their people and their growth, success, and well-being.

Adrienne Hand, a wonderful writer and author, just sent me a reference to a study that validates the increase in productivity from a genuine smile and saying “please” and “thank you”.

Many agree with this, yet say they are so busy that simply there is inadequate time. Well, slow down!

Yes, slow down. Business is about relationships, as is life. Internal relationships matter. Leaders help people feel better about themselves and do great work; leaders trust that work gets done better and ultimately everyone saves time.

I hope this follow-up article reinforces our commitment to treat our team members and all of our colleagues with respect and dignity. Kindness is motivating!