Look, we know you’re busy — every CEO is. We have just two questions for you. What percentage of your time do you spend building real relationships with the people on your team? And what percentage of your success are they responsible for? (If you need a hint on the second one, it’s a number with three digits in it).
Most of us don’t spend nearly enough time forging a bond with the people we work with. This isn’t a criticism — there’s so much going on that socialising gets shifted to the bottom of the pile every time. But the truth is, we have our priorities twisted. Adopting a people-centric leadership approach doesn’t get in the way of everything else we need to do. All those other things take away from our opportunity to spend time with our people.
People-centric leadership
If you want to develop a high-performance environment, some of the factors you’ll need to create are trust and psychological safety, effective communication, transparency, alignment, belonging, and loyalty. All of these stem from developing deep, genuine relationships. You’ll retain people more effectively; they’ll be more productive, come up with better ideas, pick up the slack when needed, and pull in the same direction. Are those things worth committing a little more of your time than you’re giving now?
Even in huge organisations, with thousands upon thousands of employees, CEOs who prioritise a people-centric leadership approach are rewarded with success. Satya Nadella at Microsoft has become famous for transforming the tech giant over the last ten years by fostering empathy and engagement, aligning people with his vision and opening the channels of communication among the team. Meanwhile, over on the East Coast, Arvind Krishna of IBM has led the company into an AI and cloud future by engaging with employees at all levels, empowering people to innovate, and prioritising training and development.
Putting your people first: where to start?
If it works on such a grand scale, there’s a decent chance that putting your people first will have a major impact on your business, too. So, where should you start?
In our experience, we’ve found that meals are a good place to get the ball rolling. You need to eat anyway, and spending some time with your staff is a great excuse to have a better-than-usual lunch or breakfast. People bond over food and will likely open up to you more. If you’ve not previously made a habit of inviting those in your business out for a bite, then it’s probably a good idea to let them know there’s no issue or agenda; otherwise, you’re likely to find they’ll panic.
When they achieve something they’re proud of, or you deliver your objectives as a group, you should celebrate with them too. Get out of the office, take the team for a drink or two, book an activity or a trip, and let your hair down a little. People remember experiences much more than they do financial rewards, and having some fun might well make your business more enjoyable for you, too.
Empowering growth
One of the most impactful things you can do to connect with your team is to help them grow and achieve their goals. There seems to be increasing reluctance in the world for people to set stretching objectives and push themselves to deliver them — fear of failure and embarrassment holds most back. Perhaps the most valuable thing you can do for the people in your charge is to help them overcome this and then support them in growing their skills and capabilities to achieve things they never thought possible. The bonus is, it’s also extremely rewarding for you.
And on that note, a powerful bonding experience can come from learning with your team. Whether it’s peer learning, bringing in speakers, going on a course together, or whatever’s appropriate, creating an environment in which you learn with and from each other will help you forge long-standing connections that live on beyond your time working together.
Embracing people-centric leadership
Business is a team sport. It’s also infinitely more rewarding when you do it with people you’re aligned with and share relationships with. That doesn’t mean you need to be everyone’s friend — you’re their leader and should act appropriately. But there are many kinds of relationships you can build with people, and making them stronger has huge benefits for everyone.
