by Phil Eastman
No matter
what type of organization you are a part of,
leadership involves connecting with people. This
may seem like an elementary concept but
surprisingly enough many who find themselves in
leadership roles don’t realize this fundamental
fact. Leadership is about people first and the
enterprise second.
Let’s first look at what it means to connect with
people and then look to how these connections
are made. It is important to state first off that
many people find themselves in the role of
leader without having developed strong human
relational abilities and so the idea of connecting
with their people is intimidating. Nonetheless,
connection with people is the single most
important aspect of leadership success. Most of
us assume that leaders fail because of poor
strategy. According to an article by Ram Charan
in Fortune 1999, “most prominent executives
don’t end up out of work because of poor
strategy but because they cannot implement the
strategies of the organization.” And since
implementation is about moving the people in a
common direction, leadership connection is
critical.
Consequently, if a leader is going to successfully
maneuver an organization through the
complexities of 21st century economies and
political landscapes, connection with their people
in the organization is paramount.
What do I mean by connection? Simply put,
connection is about relating to people in ways
that are meaningful to them. It means taking a
genuine interest in the person before attempting
to advance the company’s agenda. It means
knowing your people’s names, the names of
those they care about, and knowing what is
happening in their personal and professional
lives.
The delicate part of connecting with those you
lead is to be familiar with their lives inside and
outside the organization without totally losing
your objectivity as the leader. Often leaders will
advance their relationship with employees
beyond connection all the way to friendship. This
is not always a problem for the leader but too
many times I have seen examples where the
leader loses the ability to effectively lead, coach,
and correct their people because their lives have
become entangled beyond work. I realize that I
am asking you to balance delicately the concern
for people and friendship with them. It is an
equilibrium that is challenging to maintain but
one that is critical to your leadership success.
As a bank executive I had an opportunity to work
with one of the best when it came to connecting
with people. Victor Riley was Chairman of the
bank I worked for and although the organization
was headquartered in another state, I had a
chance to be around Victor (he never liked being
called Mr. Riley) many times during my career.
One of the greatest skills he maintained was
both his willingness and his ability to connect
with people at all levels of the organization. He
was comfortable from the teller line to Wall
Street and displayed open and genuine concern
for those who were in his charge.
I recall one example during a particularly
challenging time for the bank and for me
personally, I went to the airport to pick up Victor
(he liked to be picked up by someone so he could
chat during the drive back to the bank). When he
got into the car he asked me first how my wife
was, second how my children were, and lastly,
how the bank was doing. I will never forget the
order of those questions and what it meant to
me to have him at least ask about those I care
about before we got down to business. And by
the way Victor always got down to business.
However, he connected with me which made me
want to work for him.
Here’s a story to illustrate what can happen if
you don’t connect with your people. A client
asked for some help serving their customers.
They had done extensive outside surveys and
held focus groups that told them they were not
meeting the expectations of their customers.
During the initial stages of the engagement we
came to understand that very little connection
had been made regarding the subject of
customer service with the front line folks. We
immediately focused our attention on finding out
from those employees why the expectations of
the customers were going unmet. We also
learned how to solve the problem. The truth is,
the leadership could have gained the knowledge
in a more economical and effective way if they
had first asked the people who were serving the
customers.
So how do you connect? First, get to know your
people’s lives beyond the work place. Find out
what interests them and who they care about. Be
careful not to cross the line where you lose your
objectivity. Second, lead by wandering around.
Talk to people. Some of the most valuable
conversations a leader can have entail wandering
around the organization and chatting with people
in their space. Avoid having people come to your
office for discussions or meetings. Always go to
them if at all possible.
Leadership is about the people first and then
about the enterprise. As a leader, let me
encourage you to connect with your people in
order to be successful. With the holiday season
upon us, there is no better time than NOW!
Phil Eastman is the founder and
president of Leadership Advisors Group, a Boise-
based consulting firm. Phil combines more than
25 years of leadership experience with his
passion for consulting, coaching, and teaching to
develop leaders, build teams, and improve
performance. It is his desire to enhance
leadership effectiveness for all of his clientele.
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