Have you stopped to consider what type of impact you are making as a leader?
There may be big things that you have done to support a team member or on a project, but most of the time it is how you show up in the little moments that count. These are the moments that team members remember forever.
Here are some ways that leaders show up that make a difference:
- Someone asks you a question and you share an experience that you had and what you learned so they see that they are not the only one who has gone through something like this before.
- You give someone who is having a rough day a quick word of encouragement or some mentoring advice to help them through it.
- You remember someone’s birthday or anniversary with the company and give them a handwritten card or take them to lunch.
- You take the time to ask a team member about an event that happened in their personal life and share the excitement with them.
- You take the time to ask how a person is doing after a difficult situation that they recently went through and show compassion for what they are going through.
- You stop what you are doing when someone needs to talk to give them your full attention and actively listen.
- You demonstrate vulnerability when you talk about a tough situation that you went through and how you overcame it to help them see that everyone makes mistakes.
There are hundreds of examples that I could have shared, but here is the point, you can have a positive impact on another person by what you do or say and you may not even know it! These moments can make a huge difference for someone else and they will remember what you said or did for them. They will repeat those same words that you said to help the next person that needs to hear them. You may have forgotten you even said these words, but it made a difference for them.
I spoke with a leader yesterday who was amazed at some recent feedback he learned from various people about the impact that he had on them. He is a unique leader who does a great job, gets things done but more importantly cares about people. He stood up for them in ways that many other leaders may not have done. He didn’t broadcast what he did to the world, but each of the people that he helped never forgot him or what he did for them.
In his case, he has left quite a legacy on all those that he worked with over the years. He let them see what it is like to work for someone who cares about them as people and perhaps they will pay it forward for their own team members someday. It only takes one person to make a difference in someone’s life. Will you be the person who chooses to lead with compassion today for the people that you work with today?