On Wednesday morning, I heard John C. Maxwell, a strong influence on my leadership journey. Not only did I listen to him, but I also met him, shook his hand, and got a picture. Speaking on “5 Levels of Leadership” he began with level one. Here people follow you because of your title and not because you are “leading.” As he spoke, I recognized myself and my relationship with one of my employees. She is doing exactly what I ask her to do, nothing more, to avoid losing her job, and her energy level is low. I took it to heart and decided I needed to change my behavior that afternoon. I went back to my office, called her, probed for challenges, and asked her how I could help. I clearly defined what I needed to be done over the next 2 days with exact timelines and showered her with praise when she accomplished the tasks. I was elated and decided to take it one step further.
I reached out to senior management and got permission to bring her to the upcoming All Hands meeting. As a remote employee, it can be lonely working from home, and this would be the first event with our new VP and the entire global team. Positive exposure would help her career, and I embrace my role to help her.
The next morning during our 1-on-1, she shared some unexpected news. “My husband has a new job and needs to go to Chicago that week. I found someone to watch my son, but I forgot about the dogs. If you let me expense the cost of boarding my dogs, I will come, but if you won’t, I can’t come.”
I remain speechless.
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