It’s really not as complicated as it sounds. Leading people. Being a leader. Yes, people – with their various opinions and viewpoints and preferences and needs and and and – yes, people are complicated. Leadership is not – and should not be – complicated. Really it’s simple. Take care of the people you are entrusted to lead. That allows those people to do the work of the organization.
As a leader, there are always going to be conflicting demands on your time, energy and brain capital. Investors, owners, customers, guests, market changes, product changes – all fight for part or, let’s be honest, a LARGE part of your work life. And THEN we add employees and their “stuff” on top of it? Who has time for it all? Maybe you’re lucky enough to have a strong HR person on your team – the one you can pile the “people stuff” on their shoulders. Maybe your HR person is expert in something other than the “people stuff” in your organization. Maybe you don’t have an HR person (ah, but you dream of having someone someday).
How do you navigate through all the work stuff and people stuff and outside stuff that threatens to overwhelm and take over? I recommend starting with keeping it simple. What are the needs of your team? How can you support them in accomplishing the goals and fighting through their challenges? So, is it by knowing their names? Maybe. Is it by standing in their shoes? Perhaps. Is it by requiring a daily/weekly/monthly meeting that lists all the “stuff”? Rarely.
Keeping it simple starts with building relationships. Caring about people that work directly with you every day. Caring about the people THOSE people care about. Caring about the challenges the people around you are facing. Caring about where they come from and what makes them who they are. Caring about what stresses them out so you can sense the freak out coming.
I once worked with a leader who simply didn’t know his SHIT. Well, let me say – he knew his industry and his day to day work and tasks. He had succeeded in large organizations and smaller businesses. He had been promoted over and over again to higher levels of prestige and honor. However, he had NO CLUE how to work with people. So as challenges would come up – no one jumped to action to get things fixed. Instead of rallying the troops to battle the tough day, he would call/email/order/stomp his feet, expecting something would happen from it. To be honest, he did get short term results from that behavior. But long term, his organization and the culture of the group suffered. Strong players left the organization for the competition. Other team members couldn’t leave physically for various reasons, so they left emotionally and mentally. They did their job, but with little to no loyalty to the leader or the organization that couldn’t see they had a bad leader in place.
As a leader, you are expected to Know Your Shit, which really starts with Giving A Shit. Just Keep it Simple.
Have YOU ever worked with a leader who kept it simple and it WORKED? Ever had a boss that couldn’t care less and the whole world knew it? Tell me your stories (names protected if needed). 🙂