Listen and Learn: A Profound Leadership Principle for Managers.
As the title suggests, you are reading this to find something profound about leadership. The truth is that there are some common-sense approaches to how we interact with employees that can have profound results.
Remember the days when a manager would come around and talk with the staff at an organization? I am not talking about the "Bill Lumberghs" of the world who do nothing but roam around micromanaging others doing no actual work themselves. I am talking about managers getting up from their desks to meet with the staff to see how they are doing in their personal lives. Believe it or not, it is relatively common for managers to go on for years ignorant of what is happening in their employees' lives.
We don't need our managers in every aspect of our lives; however, understanding what is happening on a high level can create the kind of rapport conducive to building strong working relationships within an organization. Look out for red flags like excessive use of sick time or poor customer relations. These can signal that something is going on in an employee's life that may require nothing more than an open conversation to allow the employee to express themselves or the struggles they are going through. That one act alone can often be enough to help someone get back onto a good path and prevent early departures through resignations and or early terminations.
Pulling back the curtain on organizational information is another simple way to enhance trust and boost morale in an organization. Tell the truth and don't try to hide the details of why a decision was made. For example, if budget constraints prevent a project from being implemented, explain the budget process and show the actual numbers used in the decision process. Suppose you take the time to listen to the issues and complaints of employees, most of the time, it is something simple that can resolve with better communication of thoughts, ideas, results, failures, and growth opportunities. Of course, the staff can't always be in the know on specific information; however, if you are open with what you can be, it is easier to believe a manager when they say they can't talk about a specific topic.
Listen and learn from your staff. Remember that you don't need to be the smartest person in the room as a manager, but you need to leave room for the smartest people. Let the people you hired to do the job have a chance to speak, and when they do, really listen to what they have to say. You may be surprised by what you learn.
