Last week I read a post by Carey Nieuwhof who referenced a Gallup poll saying that the bond between remote workers and their company’s leadership had fallen. That could give a reason for leaders to interpret this to mean everyone needs to get back in the office.
However, another interesting tidbit which came out of the poll was that employee engagement and loyalty both rise if the remote worker has a 15-30 minute meaningful phone call every week with a manager or leader.
What could and should be Included in this phone call? The poll said:
- Recognition
- Discussion about collaboration
- Goals
- Priorities
- The employee’s strengths
Leaders can work at trying to bring people back into the office but if meaningful conversations and connection with supervisors which demonstrates care, concern and love don’t happen, disengagement and dissatisfaction could very well continue whether remaining remote or being back in the office.
I am currently working with a leader development model called Lead, Develop, Care and am conducting seminars around the country. I say that a leader with those looking to them for leadership has three primary responsibilities.
Lead
Develop
Care
The leader needs to have a clear target in mind, intentionally articulate that target and lead people toward it. It’s a matter of leading people from where they are to someplace else. While the leader is traveling toward that target, he/she does two other things:
- Develop those being led
2. Care for those being led
In the seminar I state that you can’t really help those you lead to be the best person and contributor they can be if you don’t genuinely care for them.
If the people you are tasked with leading sense you don’t care about them but only about what they produce, over time production will nosedive.
I find it interesting that the Gallup poll revealed that people want to have a meaningful connection with their leaders, one which would demonstrate that their leaders truly care about them.
As leaders, we want to ask questions to know how people are doing, not just how the work is doing.
“When leaders embrace their responsibility to care for people instead of caring only about results, then people will follow, solve problems and see to it that the leader’s vision comes to life the right way, a stable way and not the expedient way.” ~ Simon Sink.
This concept of really caring hits home with me as I tend to be a task-oriented leader, not a people-oriented leader. By His grace, I’m growing in learning how to genuinely care for those looking to me for leadership
Hear are a few simple ideas I’ve been focusing on in order to really care:
- Make time for them-Time is the language of love
- Listen to them-My ears will never get me in trouble
- Recognize them-Affirm and encourage them publicly as well as privately. I never met a person who felt they were encouraged too much
- Serve them- It’s not a matter of how many people serve me, but how many people I serve
- Bring out the best in them- Draw out the God-given music that’s inside of them that otherwise might never be played
“Your care for others is the measure of your greatness” Luke 9:48 The Living Bible
It’s not how much money I make or have, how big my company, church or organization is, how many books I may have written or how many followers I have on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok which makes me great in God’s eyes, but rather how genuine and consistent my care for others is demonstrated!
Recent Comments