The Front Line: How do you listen?

Front line leaders and client facing associates are truly the heroes of most organizations. They are the closest to the action and absorb some serious heat. And yet, in my experience, they can be the least understood and listened to. 

I will never forget my first supervisory role and the leaders who shaped me.  At 22, I was entrusted with a team of fifteen associates. For four to five hours our mission was to safely sort, by zip code, ten thousand packages per hour. The flow of packages originated from ten bay doors onto a horizontal straight-line moving conveyor. Stress was high and the recurring echo was “don’t stop the belt…!” 

Despite the respect modeled for me growing up, the pressure was real.  And at times, I was less than tactful in my articulation of expectations and instruction.

As I progressed in my first management role, I heard two voices…or “bosses”:

1.      Boss A – This person spent very little energy investing in me or my development. Most conversations were filled with “telling me” vs. “showing me”…..often yelling at me. In retrospect, this boss was not a bad person, evil, or worse. A lack of leadership and professional development were the challenges.   

2.      Boss G – This person could see beyond “the kid”, the developmental needs, and the inexperience. Most conversations were filled with “hey, let’s go check it out together….hey, let me show you….now you do it…..now you tell me what we just did/you learned….” In retrospect, this leader possessed the desire to see me progress, develop, and win. 

Boss A - would watch from the catwalk and bark orders from a 2-way radio. 

Boss G - would come to my area, listen, and watch me interact with my team. 

Boss A - would “tell me” what I should “tell them."

Boss G - would role play the tough conversations I had to deliver to my team. 

Boss A - loved the sound of their own voice, their ideas, their answers, and their ego.

Boss G - listened to understand, led with questions, and led me to the answers.

Boss A - was a boss.

Boss G - was a servant. 

How do you hear from your front line? How do you mentor your teams to hear and respond to the front line?

A few thoughts in closing.....

Listen to the front line. They know. Yeah, they may vent and rant….but they know. What do they know? They know their own truth. Even if it isn’t “the truth”, it is their truth….which is a path to understanding. 

For me, it requires intention to turn my own larynx off.