Little Leadership

It’s the smallest workplace gestures that make the biggest difference in employee morale

Dick was ready to pull his hair out. Transferred from the corporate headquarters to a small, out-of-state location, he had done everything he knew to establish trust and build credibility, but nothing seemed to work. Nine months in, he still sensed suspicion and guardedness whenever he walked the shop floor, and business results were lagging. Finally, he turned to a trusted member of his team for advice and was dumfounded by the response: “Change your license plates.”

Every day the employees saw Dick’s car in the lot with license plates from his previous state. They assumed he was a short-timer who would be returning to corporate, so they refused to buy into his ideas.

Dick learned a small but valuable lesson when leading people: often it is the smallest things that make the biggest difference. It’s called “little leadership.” It is easy to do and can be especially helpful when times are tough and resources are scarce. Always be on the lookout for the next “small idea.” With a little forethought and effort you can reap big results. Here are some ideas to get you started in making little leadership work for you:

1. A sweet idea for keeping your ear to the ground. Put a candy dish near your desk to make visiting your workspace a treat. Dropping by for their favorite morsel, people will associate you with those small breaks that help them get through the day, and you’ll be amazed at the comments you’ll overhear to help you gauge employee morale.

2. Face time. Dropping by a jobsite to say thanks in person is a small investment of time that pays big dividends as long as you are sincere and don’t overplay your hand. When someone does a particularly good job, don’t just make a mental note of it, tell him or her in person. The recipient of your goodwill will feel valued and appreciated for what they do and will be more motivated to keep it up.

3. Remove subtle signs that put people down. Audit your work place for any subtle practices that divide people based on rank and privilege for no good reason. For example, I can’t think of any good reason for preferred parking for the boss. All it does is reinforces the gulf between employees and management and contributes to a sense of us versus them.

4. Handwritten notes can be powerful. In this electronic age, handwritten correspondence has gone by the boards in favor of e-mail and voicemail. And, for convenience sake, that’s mostly a good thing. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, write out a short note to express gratitude or appreciation toward your best customers, clients or prospects. This small gesture leaves a strong impression.

5. Ask “How are you doing?” and mean it. When times are tough and people are stressed, taking the time to genuinely inquire into how someone is doing sends a powerful message of caring. We’re not talking a spill-your-gut session here, but taking a minute or two to inquire after a co-worker’s sick child or parent or to see how the job is progressing. As a consequence, they are more likely to care about you and the business.

6. Plan small celebrations. I’m not a big fan of throwing a birthday party every five minutes, but if your group has been working extra hard lately, plan something small as a reward. Bringing in bagels for breakfast, pizza for lunch, ice cream for a late afternoon break are just a few simple ways to celebrate a success.

7. Nothing is too small. If it matters to them, it should matter to you. If you have a group that likes to celebrate things like birthdays but you couldn’t care less, find a way to support them with these seemingly small issues. Remember the essence and premise of little leadership: with people, the little things are the big things. Taking little steps like these helps to sustain morale and build your leadership brand and power.

8. Don’t assume you know what matters to them. These days it’s not unusual for several generations to be working side by side, and it’s common for the leader to be significantly older than some employees. Don’t assume that what matters to you matters to them. Find out what seemingly small things are important to all workers and accomplish those things if you can. However, this does not mean you need to lower performance expectations.

A FINAL WORD

If little leadership sounds like common sense, that’s because it is. But all too often, it’s not common practice. Leaders spend so much time in pursuit of the next “big idea” that they miss the scores of little ones right in front of them that can have an immediate and lasting impact. So the next time you start thinking about how to improve things on the job, think small. The results you’ll get may be huge.



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