I once observed a senior leader berate a young assistant for not ensuring that his 6-star hotel room had a harbour view. This was at a big client event where the clients had been given the best harbour-facing rooms.
What’s a low hanging fruit in leadership?
It’s for leaders to put their team’s success ahead of their own needs.
If they don’t, no matter how hard they try to mask it, occasionally the veil will fall. Sooner than later, the team will find someone who values them more.
But if they do value their team’s success, they’d have converted an employee into a lifelong fan.
A CEO I worked for once told me during a big event we held overseas, “Your focus this week is to look after and give our clients the best experience possible. Don’t worry about me.”
A simple act that said he was more concerned about the team goals than his own vanity needs. And that value shone through not just that week but every single day. What a decent man. I still happily keep in touch with him.
So how does a leader learn to value his team’s success more?
Watching my wife interact with our children on Sunday, it occurred to me: leaders just need to channel their inner mother.
Mothers get it: it’s not about themselves, it’s about those they are responsible for.