Maximum from the Minimum

It was during a conversation that I was sharing during a flight the other day that this statement originated. I wasn't doing any particular research nor was the topic previously at the forefront of my mind. Yet, as I spoke with my seatmate, I heard the words come out of my mouth. Despite the fact that it was I who said the words, they hit my ears like weighted gongs, and I knew instantly that they would be the inspiration for my next article.

The words I heard were, "Employers often give the bare minimum and then are surprised when their employees do the same." Does this statement hit you the way it hit me? The concept prompted almost an hour of great conversation during that flight, during which we spoke of how unequal the balance of power is in most employee-employer relationships along with many other nuances of leadership and the impact of those who desire to obtain the most impact for the least output.

Though I have not been considering this topic consciously, I think there has been a general awareness of this phenomenon for quite some time. In fact, one of the most popular videos on the Servant-Minded Leadership YouTube Channel is one that I called, "Leaders Don't Bring Donuts" in which I talked about leaders who feel they are justified to treat their staff however it pleases them most of the time, as long as they bring in some form of a treat every once in a while. Additionally, I recall speaking with a dear friend probably a year ago about the company he worked for, which had the tendency to treat staff like they needed to be available at any/all hours when the company needed them, but was unwilling to extend that same courtesy to the employees, when they needed some level of flexibility.

OK, that is enough of an introduction...probably TOO much, in fact. So let's dig into this topic. Now, as I often do, let me take a moment to diffuse all the things we are NOT talking about in this article.

We are NOT:

• blaming our organizations for how THEY treat us.
• suggesting that placing expectations on those who work for us is bad.
• planting seeds of discontent for a "raw deal" that we feel we have.

If we are NOT doing the above, then what ARE we doing?

In this article, we will see:

• the responsibility that we have as leaders to treat our people with dignity.
• the opportunity we have to make a dynamic impact in the lives of those we lead.
• the best way to ensure that we are being the leader we want to have.

There is a very acute reality that the employer will almost always have the power in the working relationship. This is rooted in the age-old reality that whoever has the money has the power. As long as we are being paid, the person paying us has some sense of leverage over us. This is not intrinsically bad. In fact, without the motivation of a paycheck, I suggest that the average GDP of the world would plummet (as we often see in places where wages are inconsistent or non-existent). However, as leaders, this does not give us an excuse to inappropriately leverage the power that we may have in a way that does not confer the dignity that our people deserve.

Of course, it is very rare that a person wakes up in the morning and says, "You know, I think I am going to abuse my people, today!" I know that it may feel like your boss says that every day, but I would challenge you to consider whether you have ever said that...then think about how often (even by accident) you have given your people a reason to think that you did in fact wake up with that motive. No, the reality is, no one WANTS to be a jerk and, for the most part, whether it is a whole company or a single leader, we do not want to be a jerk. And yet, even though we do not plan to treat our staff poorly, we still find ourselves edging toward the tendency of expecting more FROM our staff than we give TO them.

Therefore, the first step to overcoming this tendency is to recognize the calling we have as leaders to treat our people with dignity. This can probably be easily summarized in "The golden rule" which encourages us to do unto others as we wish them to do to us." This does not mean that we should do to others as it has been done to us, but rather as we wish it would be. We have all had moments when we wondered if our boss really cared about us. What could have shown us that they did? How about we start by doing that for our staff?

This is the difference between a manager and a leader. A manager gets things done by means of people. A leader empowers people to get things done. Our calling is to remember that, as leaders, we are in the business of people, and THEY are in the business of getting things done. The minute we try to get into their business, they are disempowered, and we lose our ability to effectively lead.

This brings us to the second part of our thought, the opportunity we have to make a dynamic impact. I am a firm believer that leaders will make an impact in the lives of their team 100% of the time. The only question is whether that impact will be positive or negative. When we fall prey to the tendency of giving the least in hopes of exchanging it for the most, we will inevitably find ourselves making a negative impact.

Our team(s) need inspiration, empowerment, encouragement, and love. When we try to short-change our business of people in order to save time, money, or whatever, we fall into the trap of less for more. The problem is, it never works! Giving our people less and hoping that they will give more is not sustainable. The impact that we make in the lives of our team will be like seeds, and to quote another ancient proverb, "What we sow, we will reap." If we plant seeds of "doing the bare minimum" and "I don't have time for that" or "I'm too busy to care about that", we will soon find that those values soon bloom in our staff. Conversely, if we plant seeds of compassion, genuine interest, and authentic service, our opportunity to impact the team with positive growth is exponential.

This brings us to the final point of this article. How do we ensure that we are the leader we want? I think this step is both the easiest and most challenging for most of us. It is easiest because we are all pretty good at telling people what our boss should have done. (In fact, we have probably spent too much time in these types of conversations.) So, it's not difficult to know what we want a leader to do.

Unfortunately, at the same time, it is so much easier to talk about it than it is to be about it. Furthermore, it is the natural human tendency to emulate that which we have seen instead of doing what we know is best. So, here are some practical steps that we can take to ensure that we are not expecting more FROM our staff than we are willing to give TO them.

1. Make time in your weekly schedule to simply be available to your staff. Even if this is just an hour or two, set aside time that is not encumbered by anything else when your team knows that you are completely available to them. This should not just be for work-related matters. Make sure that you are open to personal conversations, hearing their heart, and getting to know them as individual. Place an expectation on yourself to know them to the same degree as you expect them to know their job.
2. Set scheduled check-in meetings with each staff-member, to ensure connection. Since not everyone will make good use of the availability, something that I do with my staff is schedule semi-annual check-ins with them. No, this is not their performance evaluation. There are two times per year that I plan for a 30-minute conversation to simply hear their heart and learn about what is going on in their lives. I highly recommend that this be leveraged ONLY to invest in them and the things said in these meetings should NEVER be used against them later.
3. Celebrate impactful occasions. I have made it a practice to celebrate birthdays and new children in our monthly divisional meetings, while also buying lunch for each direct report of mine on their work-aversary. These small gestures take very little time and even less money but make a huge impact and continue to invest in the people who serve our vision. This should not be a rote exercise, but rather a genuine celebration of our people.
4. Remember money is important but not as important as culture. If we are paying our staff the bare minimum, the old phrase "You get what you pay for" just might come to bite us in the rear. However, assuming that we are paying a fair wage, no amount of bonus, wage increase, cost-of-living raise, etc. will compensate for a toxic culture. If our best solution to employee retention issues is to give more $$, then we may not realize that we are missing the most important part: we are in the business of PEOPLE!! I recall one "leader" (I use the term loosely) telling me that they did not have time to chit-chat with people. If they need some pizza or something to remain motivated then fine, but they were too busy for all that other stuff. I'm sorry, but pizza is not the solution. Raises are not the solution. The solution has to center around a heart that actually cares about people and recognizes that leaders are making an impact!
5. Lastly, remember that family is critical to the balance of life. Too often I see organizations that demand time from their people that belongs to their families. This could be an article unto itself (maybe it will be, in the future) but for the purpose of this piece, I encourage us to ask ourselves a simple question: Would I (as the leader) be willing to trade as much time with my family as I am asking my team to trade? And if the answer is yes, then the next question would be, how much would I charge? Be fair in this assessment and ensure that our people get to prioritize what is most important to them. Our business might be our baby, but our people have literal babies.

In conclusion, there is a trend that prevails in many businesses, where leaders and overall organizational culture tends to give as little as possible while expecting maximum returns. Then they are bewildered when the seeds they have planted bloom in the work ethic of their people. I am calling leaders to make a change. This may be simply putting measures in place so that we do not fall into this trap or it may be something more dynamic like making radical changes to a trajectory that has been in place for many years. Whatever it is, it is not about blaming someone else. It is about taking actions that are without our sphere of control and making a positive impact in the lives of those we serve.

I'm Here to Serve is sponsored by SML Consultive a leadership development firm dedicated to empowering what they call the "forgotten" leaders. These front-line and middle-management leaders are often burdened with immense responsibility while receiving very little training or empowerment in their role. To learn more about how SML can help create a culture of empowerment and growth, visit www.servantmindedleadership.com .

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#leadership #impact #maximizedresults #culture #team #