2 Words Every Great Leader Says
Constantly
When you don't say these words, you rely entirely on your own power
and control.
I had asked
one of my employees to come into work early.
I was managing
a small team of graphics professionals, those people who know how to use
Photoshop to create works of art and can design websites in their sleep. I always felt a little unqualified. (If you must
know, my college background and training are in journalism, not graphic design or computers.) She was not that excited about the
idea and she let me know by berating me for 30 minutes straight.
My big mistake? I forgot to say two simple words.
I'll hold you in suspense here for a bit, because I have another
example.
I made a major
mistake on an article once, but a copy editor caught it before it went to publication. It would have been
embarrassing for all of us, and I was incredibly indebted to this
person. This time, I had learned my lesson. Not only did I say the two words, I
copied everyone else on the staff and even posted about it on Twitter.
That's right, every great leader says "thank you" constantly. Here's
why.
Good leaders
rose to a position of power and control by their own innate resourcefulness.
They used the old expression to pull yourself up by the
bootstrapsand maybe took the phrase a little too seriously. Good leaders
are smart, make good decisions, and tend to run a tight ship. From what I've
seen, these leaders are a bit isolated because, you know--they're the only ones
who know how to do the work. They sit in a corner office and make silent
commands by email. They pull levers that create cogs within the business
ecosystem (or send people to the unemployment line). The one common trait of
average leaders is they work alone.
Great leaders
don't rise to a position of power and control at all. In fact, you might not
even notice them. Why is that? Because they blend right into the team and work
alongside everyone else. They don't say "thank you" because it's the
right thing to do, or a smart business decision, or a way to promote their own
rapid propulsion into the upper ranks of management. They say thank you in the
same way you might say "thanks" to an Uber driver for reaching your
destination on time or you might show gratitude to a waiter who brings the food
out while it's actually hot.
What creates a great leader is
this sense that there is no way you could ever do anything
great and magical in any job unless it was a team effort. Great leaders blend in because they are literally only one of
the people on a great team. Just because you write the checks doesn't mean you
get to treat people like you write the checks. In fact, the act of
"writing the checks" itself is a way to say "thank you" to
employees. So is the primo coffee in the snack room. Gratitude, as I've said
before, is an attitude. It's particularly important in business. Without it,
bad things happen.
Like, for example, getting
berated. The employee who came into work early didn't see me as a great
leader. She saw me as acurmudgeon. I had hired her, trained her in the
job, set her salary, and gave her performance reviews, but because I never said
the two words that matter, she didn't really see me as the boss. She didn't
work that hard. She did the job and that's it, because my inability to
recognize her efforts meant she didn't bother makingany efforts.
She eventually left for a better job, likely seeking someone who would
recognize what she had to contribute.
Who do you need to thank right now? Take the time to do it.
Then, do it again. And again. And again. Look for ways to thank those around
you and to realize that you wouldn't be running the accounting department or
handling the big PR campaign if it wasn't for the people around you. When you
say two simple words, you suddenly unlock a wellspring of goodwill among every
single employee.
BY JOHN BRANDON
http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/2-words-every-great-leader-says-constantly.html?cid=em01014week30a
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