When CEO's and Employees Are From Different Planets, and How to Bridge Their Divide

When I asked +100 CEO's last week, who they would reach out to for help, if they had to pick between who they perceived as the:

• Sympathetic, but less competent colleague
• Competent, but less sympathetic colleague

95% said the latter.

If I had asked their employees the same question, 95% would say they prefer the sympathetic, but less competent colleague. (0.0000001% would go for for the less competent and less sympathetic colleague)

Ideally, we always go for the sympathetic AND competent colleague, but when that person is not around, the fun starts.

Leaders and employees live on two different planets, when it comes to asking for help or making sense of things. Sympathy suddenly becomes what drives relationships - not competency.

When they live on two different planets, it has a major consequence for potential success.

What Great Leaders Do

Great leaders know this and that they need to bridge this divide and connect to the people others seek out, when they make sense of things. The 3% that 90% look to aka #threepercentrule.

The opinions of the 3% are contagious, so getting them onboard - or as minimum ensure they are not against what you are trying to achieve is essential.

Remember they have this huge informal power regardless of you/leaders working with them or not.

The question is really do you want to run the risk of NOT knowing who they are and NOT being in contact with them?

The great leaders knos this and create environments, where they can have safe and engaging conversations and listen deeply to these employees.

• Like the CEO, who had brown bag lunches in the streets of NYC with them.
• Or the CEO who went for walks on the beach on the West Coast of Denmark
• Or the CEO who hosted Beer tastings in Switzerland

All examples of environments where you:

• Do things together
• Move
• Have fun or play

Three elements that connects and allows the CEO to bridge the invisible divide that exists just because of their different roles in the organization.

I hope more leaders have the courage to do the same in the future.

Their employees will love them for it.

Learn more...

Do you want to know more about, what the #threepercentrule can do for you and your organization, then you can read this bestselling book: https://jeppehansgaard.gumroad.com/l/ehuli - also available in print on Amazon

Or check videos and articles here: https://www.innovisor.com/three-percent-rule/

You can also just DM me, and I will be happy to share more of what working with the the right 3% of people can do for your success.