I was reading the online edition of INC magazine and came across the article. Good lessons for all of us. I have edited it to make it more friendly for our industry.
The worst leaders are remembered for what they did to their people, the best for what they did for their people. It’s as simple, and as tricky as that.
Tricky because as a leader it’s easy to focus solely on tending to the business and your career, forgetting that tending to your people first will take care of both.
Over my career as a head coach and gym owner o I’ve learned that delivering the “for” is as important as delivering the forecast (again, they aren’t mutually exclusive). It’s what good leaders, and good human beings, do. However, even with the most altruistic intent, you can miss doing the kind of things that epitomize your number one role as a leader.
To care.
Here are the five most powerful things you can do for your people to do right by your people.
1. Build a MOAT around them.
MOAT stands for Managing On Absolute Trust, and it’s a must. Isn’t it what you would want as an employee? To know your boss trusted you and your decisions? To carry this idea further I pictured building a moat around my people as a key part of my job. They know I have their back. Doing so creates an empowered island where they are free to choose how they rule their kingdom (their event, their groups, their classes) without interference.
They’re protected from outside interference and yet there’s always a drawbridge to my help and assistance. I’d cross over that drawbridge upon request or would proactively do so to provide coaching and nurturing (thus, they were never “on an island”, as the negative connotation goes).
Finally, moats are reserved for protecting and growing important assets. Picturing the moat around my people reminded me to reinforce that they’re valued and valuable, worthy and worthwhile.
2. Give them the best feedback they’ve ever gotten.
It’s not a high enough bar to merely invest the time it takes to give feedback. Any leader can do that, although clearly not every leader does. Research from Officevibe (an online leadership learning platform) shows that two-thirds of employees want more feedback, and 83 percent say the feedback they get isn’t helpful.
The best bosses go beyond and thoughtfully plan out and deliver insightful, actionable, even brave, feedback.
Think of the best feedback you’ve ever gotten and replicate what had to be true for you to have gotten it. It required insight into you as a person and nailing a fundamental truth about what makes you great (that you should do more of) or what was holding you back. It took time, careful observation, and the giver of the feedback caring enough about you to get the feedback spot-on, delivered in a way you could hear it. Start here.
3. Care about their career as much as you care about yours.
Start by having crystallizing career conversations. Help them identify what they want to do in their career, not what their supposed to want to do. Get clear with them on what it takes to get where they want to go and discuss options without setting unrealistic expectations.
Then advocate for them ferociously, find ways for showcasing their talents in ways that will give them a career boost.
4. Get the skeletons out of their closet.
This means getting employees to share their most closely held performance weaknesses; the things they know they need to work on but are afraid to admit. I think I am a pretty good all around coach. BUT- I am NOT the person you want coaching dance for girls or pommel horse for boys.
This puts learning in overdrive, but can only happen if you have a foundation of trust in place (which will be there if you’ve built a moat). Maybe they don’t like to speak in front of large groups or feel they stink at vault.
5. Teach them in teachable moments.
Continuing with the theme of investing in their development and growth, be on the lookout for teachable moments when learning is most powerful. Moments like the day after a terrible competition or when a plan does NOT come together. In those moments, coach.
Most importantly, do these things right because they’re the right things to do.
