So we covered one important aspect of happy people - having a sense of purpose. The second is the hardest for most leaders. In order to lead happy people, you have to invest in them. Personally. The biggest dividend you will ever get in life is from the investment you make in relationships. Don't get me wrong - you won't necessarily have anything in common with the people you lead other than the work you are doing - but you have to find space for a relationship with them.
With some people - it may be hard to find common ground. Never forget we are all humans. That is a good starting point. To help me find a platform to build a relationship on, I often look at people in all the different roles they play. For example, I am daughter, sister, mother, wife, race walker, avid reader, car head, bad bowler, water lover, outdoor lover, rainbow celebrator, theater fan, wino, beer aficionado, Saints fan, Catholic, dog lover - you get the picture. When I have someone on my team that I struggle to find common ground with, I think of all I am, and try to think of all the things they are. Eventually, there is always common ground. The ingredient that makes it work is time. You have to invest time in someone to know all they are.
Once you find your common place - you can now build a relationship. Once you have a relationship, you can invest in each other. Knowing what lights people up gives you the power to light them up. Really a simple concept. The investment in knowing the people you lead is the key that opens the door. By the way, this is a great way to make new friends with all kinds of people. Start with looking for common ground.
Just as every person is different and not all people are 'people' persons, the same is true of leaders. Not all leaders are people persons . . . and, unfortunately, it feels like people are put in leadership positions for their non-people accomplishments or the person has been designated as a 'future leader'. As a result, employees get leaders who either don't care about their employees on some kind of personal level (other than to use them as stepping stones to get somewhere else) or they don't even know where to begin to interact on a more personal level. I have been fortunate in my career that most of the leaders I have had knew how to interact on a personal level and were good people leaders. But, I have had a couple of leaders who were lacking in people skills . . . and as an employee, it is hard to be a happy and fully engaged employee when you are reporting to someone like that. And it is doubly hard when more leaders are 'remote' from a majority of their employees. That takes more effort on everyone's part.
ReplyDeleteAnd that is exactly the point. Companies owe employees better than to make "non-people" persons people leaders. The only effective leaders care more about the people they lead than they care about themselves.
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