First Who, Then What (why and how)

I recently listened to the updated Beyond Entrepreneurship (link below) by Jim Collins and it re-focused how important it is to take care of our teams. Those of us in the #serviceprovider universe, know well (or should know) that your team is all you have.

You don't have machines, products, real estate, or software, you have the people you work with (and for clarity, the people who help determine and support your real-estate, software, systems, etc. are critical members of the team). Everything else is fungible and irrelevant. We love serving our clients, but the math is easy: if your team isn't exceptional then neither is the client experience. If the client experience isn't exceptional, things end badly for you.

And so it was, that I was reminded of how important it is to:

1. Say thank you. However you do it, do it. There are many studies (especially with younger generations) that it's not all "Show me the Money." It is appreciation, connection, and contribution that carries the day.

2. Check in - Harvard Business Review recently posted a meta study regarding burnout and engagement and one of the most important factors in beating burnout was an engaged leader. No, really engaged. Like maybe even solicit 360 feedback engaged, what is your biggest pain point right now?, engaged.

3. Contribution - Even in distributed make shift work environments (or maybe especially) people want to contribute. I know I do. How can we give our teams a path to contribute in a way that is most meaningful? Do you know what moves your team?

4. Connection and Tone- Communication is a challenge in the modern era, but that extra 2 seconds to say "Good Morning" in your emails, asking instead of telling, taking a beat to think what it sounds like from the receiver before hitting send, and just generally remembering their work makes your work possible add up to have a major impact. Another great suggestion, my mentor taught me is to ask yourself, "What am I trying to accomplish with this email, call, voicemail?"

I'm so grateful to work with our amazing team, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

A few referenced items:

Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 by Jim Collins | Audiobook | Audible.com

FIRST WHO, THEN WHAT, Shawn Stigler (michaelbest.com)