When You're Leading People, The Simple Things Makes A Huge Difference, Here's Why

If you think leadership is about you, oh boy, your ego has led you astray. Leadership has little to do with you and everything to do with those you lead. If you think leadership is about the bottom line, think again; it’s about the people. Without the people, there is no bottom line.

Mike Myatt CEO of N2growth.

When I started my working life, I got the worst advice ever from one of my former managers during a staff meeting. Now, this was my second job after I finish secondary school, so as a young impressionable young man, I believed my manager.

He said with a non-expressive look on his face “I am here to work, not to make friends” those words stayed with me well up to my adult years. When you have influence over people, especially young people, you need to be very careful with your words because your words can shape their behaviors in so many ways.

What I eventually learned over the years is that true leadership is all about developing people, building relationships and helping others reach their full potential. It is much more than authority and recognition from the outside world. Instead, leadership It’s about equipping others with the right tools and strategies to not only maximize the success of an organization but also the lives of individuals.

When Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi traveled to India to visit her mother for the first time after being named CEO, something happens on that visit that change Indra Nooyi perspective on leadership. At her mother’s house, a steady stream of family and friends came into the house. They’d went right over to her mother and said, “Congratulations.” Or “You did such a good job raising Indra.”

According to Indra Nooyi “Watching them, I realized I’d never done for our senior executives at PepsiCo what my mother's family and friends were doing for her. So, as soon as I got back, I decided to send a letter thanking the parents of some of our executives. And since then, I’ve sent similar letters to spouses.

The impact of these letters has led to some of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had at PepsiCo. If I have one request for those of you reading this who lead people, try this. The reactions you get will move you more than you can know.”

As the leader of your department, company etc, have you ever

• Send a birthday card to your employees children
• Asked your employees how they are going
• Asked your employees how's your mom or dad going
• Or taking Indra Nooyi advice and sending a thank you card to your employee’s mother or father 

If you never did, try it; these simple things will make a huge difference with your employees motivation. When you show your employees the simplest of gratitude and you genuinely and I stress on the word GENUINELY make your employee’s family part of the company, you will have some of the most loyal employees in the world.

Dr. Myles Munroe was sharing this story about his wife who worked for Shell Oil Company and how it was so difficult for his wife to leave. Why it was so difficult for his wife to leave, the company made the the Munroe family their family. At Christmas time the company sent gifts to all their kids, send turkey and ham, invite the whole family to all their events, buy them gifts for their anniversary. The company made their employees family the company's family. As the leader do you care for your employees beyond the 9-5.

The best leaders to ever live not only succeeded in helping their team win championships or help their organizations reach new milestones, they deeply cared for their people and understood what a privilege it is to be a leader. However, some leaders are not getting it.

My wife once worked for a company that created an invisible wall between their factory staff and office staff. The office staff was given much more privileges than the factory staff, because, in the eyes of the CEO the factory staff was nothing more than people making clothes. 

For the company Christmas function, for example, a nice hall was booked for the office staff, but the factory staff Christmas get together is usually held in a cramped space in the company basement. Now really in the 21st century, in 2017. I don't know about you, but I was flabbergasted when I heard about this and it is still taking place up to today.

The sad part about this whole scenario is that some of the employees think that this type of practice and leadership is normal. But you know what, when you treat people like commodities, your turnover rate will be extremely high because people will not accept that type of nonsense and no one should.    

Think about it for a moment. As a leader, you have an incredible opportunity to change someone’s life every single day. It could be something as simple as saying hello, writing a handwritten note stating you did a good job today or remembering people’s names when you greet them. Some leaders take these things for granted. Leadership is all about people, the little things make a huge difference and the organizations that gets it are the ones that ultimately succeed.

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 Gifford is the founder of Leadership First, a leadership community dedicated to inspiring every leader into creating a great organization, one their employees will enjoy. Help us achieve our purpose, SUBSCRIBE to our community and get exclusive leadership articles from the best leadership minds in the world. Let's change the leadership status quo and inspire every leader into great leadership. Leadership First