It’s not uncommon to hear someone say, “Leadership is lonely.” There is some truth to this, of course, especially during periods of unrest or struggle. But what we don’t often hear someone admit is that leadership is especially lonely when you concentrate power. As much as you might have to be the final voice on a decision, great leaders know they shouldn’t be the only voice in the room.
Recently, I sat down with Donald Henig, co-founder of Accrueme, to discuss how to seize opportunities to become a transformational leader who invests in relationship building and not a transactional one chasing only revenue. Donald’s diverse career in finance and entertainment– and the fact that Accrueme brought him out of a well-earned retirement– has certainly gifted him with much wisdom on how to run a successful business. It’s his infectious positivity and investment in people, though, that’s been integral to all of his accomplishments. Here are 3 lessons I learned during our conversation:
- Business is about relationship building, not profit chasing.
- Don’t be afraid to start “stupid.”
- Listen to understand, not to judge.
Lesson #1: Chase relationships, not profits.
It’s a testament to Donald’s character that he can point to so many of his former supervisors and employees and say, “We’re still friends to this day.” When I asked Donald to tell me his secret for building long-lasting relationships, the first thing he emphasized was something we regularly discuss on Best Places to Lead: the importance of doing right by your people. “Just as you would your friends,” he asserts, “that’s the way you should care about your employees”
When we only focus on chasing revenue, we miss opportunities to cultivate real connections not just with potential clients but with the people who make our companies run. Relationships are a key factor in employee motivation and engagement. The more you learn about the individuals on your team, the more you can identify the things they need to be successful. In addition, they’ll also feel more supported, enabling them to have the confidence and safety that is integral to innovation.
Lesson #2: Don’t be afraid to “ start stupid.”
During our conversation, I asked Donald the advice he would give someone who is in their own way. Without missing a beat, he replies: “Start stupid.” The idea here is simple. Instead of letting your perfectionist mindset get in the way by warning you that you don’t know and could never know enough to get started, just start from zero. As Donald rightly points out, you will never know it all unless you take the first step down the path because important lessons happen along the way. Moreover, it’s when you start that you not only learn important lessons when overcoming the inevitable obstacles but that you also identify opportunities to refine what you’re working towards. The only way to identify both, though, is to start.
Lesson #3: Listen to understand the need, not to judge.
It goes without saying that the ability to listen is a core leadership competency. But there is an important difference between listening to understand and listening to judge. When listening to the judge, common responses may be “That could never work,” “That’s impossible,” or “They won’t do that because of [x, y, z] reason.” Judgments, in other words, stay focused only on the problem and not on working together to find a solution.
Listening to understand, on the other hand, keeps us open and curious. Common replies sound more like, “Tell me more about that” and “In an ideal world, what would happen?”. One simple yet always effective way Donald made sure to listen to his employees was through a suggestion box. For Donald, suggestion boxes not only serve as a source of innovation that makes the company better; they also act as an important metric of employee engagement. If you aren’t getting suggestions, after all, then people are likely disengaged. Significantly, Donald also required all the senior leaders to review all the suggestions. Although time-consuming, for Donald, what the people had to say was just that important. As leaders, listening is one of–if not the–most important tool in our toolbox.
To learn more from Donald about how to make leadership less lonely, listen to the full episode HERE.
About Best Places to Lead
Your company has the potential to be great. The leader’s responsibility is to unlock that potential – or doom it to mediocrity.
On the LIVE Best Places to Lead show, you’ll learn the hard-fought lessons from the front lines earned by business leaders who have already had their teeth bashed in and lived to tell about it. We’ll share the tips, tricks, mindsets, and frameworks that allow great leaders to lead differently.
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