The One Enduring Key to Effective, Successful Leadership

Wanna be a good leader and manager?

I have found the ONE sustaining, redeeming, enduring thing you have to do.

But it’s remarkably simple so you’re likely to dismiss it.

CARE

You could screw most of the other stuff up, but if you simply care about people they’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.

Here’s an excerpt from my ebook ‘The New Rules of Entrepreneurship” on caring …

Caring is about empathy — being able to “understand and share the feelings of another.”

Caring is about showing kindness, compassion and concern for other people involved in or affected by your business.

Caring is other-centered … it means being genuinely interested in THEIR stories, not your own.

And yes, it gets messy sometimes because when you care people open up their lives to you. But that’s because they trust you with that information, again, all because they know you care.

Here are some simple ways you can show you care:

• Ask about them and their unique stories first. Don’t dominate the conversations about you, your work and what they should buy from you. And as they are opening up to you, don’t be scanning the room for other people to talk to!
• Treat ALL people like human beings with immense value. No one is insignificant. Everybody matters. I’m amazed at how poorly people treat others they deem to not matter in the grand scheme of things. I make eye contact, say hello and when I can introduce myself and say, “Very nice to meet you.” You’d be surprised how awful receptionists or assistants are treated, when in fact, do you know who actually has the ear of the influencers?!
• Remember names and stories. I know when someone remembers my name I feel important and valued, don’t you? Yes, sometimes I blank on names too, so I try to think about the people I might be meeting beforehand and recall and practice them. When in doubt, I admit to being foggy and reintroduce myself to them.
• Follow-up when you hear about good or bad news — like an achievement or a hard time in someone’s life. A good business friend of mine consistently sends me clippings from newspapers when he sees my name pop up. That always makes me feel good. Others send me birthday cards or notes of congrats. I seek to email or text people regularly just to check in and see how they are doing.
• Be transparent and open about your own personal stories, vulnerabilities and flaws, when appropriate. It’s amazing how when I’ve shared something personal and close to me that others reciprocate with the same. It shows you’re a human.

By the way, caring breeds loyalty.

Awesome, amazing loyalty for your customers and your team … all because you simply, most genuinely, CARE about them.

Caring also brings you more in alignment with what your customers want. When you care about them, you empathize with and for them, uniquely understanding who they are and what they want and need. Your stories will be more aligned and your products and services will cater more to them because, yes, you care.