short story about leadership
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Below are 3 leadership stories from my life that surprised me in their power. They’re lessons I keep in mind regularly.
3 Leadership Stories to Help You be a Better Manager
When you’re leading others, you quickly learn that there’s a lot that changes. What you do, what you say, how you say things, and how you react are all watched by your team. Over time, you learn good things to do, key habits to remember, and what not to do.
These are 3 of my favorite leadership stories that proved to be “aha” moments for me.
leadership stories - jason lemkin knows how key it is to ask
Leadership Stories #1: There and back again, turning an A Player into a B Player
In a past company, we had a small team that worked remotely. We got together a few times a month, but otherwise relied on email and calls to stay on the same page.
This was great to allow everyone to be efficient and focused on their work.
Unfortunately, it also created management blind spots.
Over time, another leader and I noticed one of our best team members seemed to be disengaging. They didn’t bring the same enthusiasm and extra touch to their work we previously saw.
In a one on one with their manager, we discussed their recent work. Did we need to let them go? What happened?
Neither of us knew the answer.
The epiphany: A lack of real communication
As we continued speaking we realized both of us had failed to check in with her. It had actually been months since either of us last checked in with her.
Realizing their drop in quality of work might just be our fault, I took responsibility. I reached out to them and immediately scheduled a 1 on 1. I’m very glad I did.
I started the 1 on 1 by apologizing that we hadn’t been checking in with them. Then we started talking about how they were doing.
It was then I discovered that their interests had shifted and they wanted to make some small changes to their role. They also had different long term goals now, so what we thought was great tasks that furthered those goals, were actually wrong.
What’s most amazing to me in retrospect is how quickly things turned around. After just two 1 on 1s where I listened and made some small changes, they started showing their past enthusiasm and quality work.
The Lesson:
From that point forward, I’ve always kept in mind that you can’t take any of your good people for granted. You have to make time to check in on them, and assume if there’s a problem it could just as much be you causing it as anything wrong with them.
And all it took was making time to listen and take action on what I heard.
Why it works:
For decades, great leaders have sworn by the value of one on ones. Yet, there wasn’t always qualitative evidence to back it up. Fortunately, now there is.
A study reported in Harvard Business Review in December 2016 found:
“Employees who got little to no one-on-one time with their manager were more likely to be disengaged. On the flip side, those who get twice the number of one-on-ones with their manager relative to their peers are 67% less likely to be disengaged.
… And what happens when a manager doesn’t meet with employees one-on-one at all? [They are] four times as likely to be disengaged as individual contributors as a whole, and are two times as likely to view leadership more unfavorably compared to those who meet with their managers regularly.”
I learned the hard way what happens when you don’t check in with a team member. They became disengaged, and it was because I wasn’t making time for them.
Need help starting or making the most of your 1 on 1s? Here’s where to start:
Learn how to start and have awesome 1 on 1s by downloading our free ebook here.
Learn what the most important topics are to discuss in your 1 on 1s here.
Get help making the most of your 1 on 1s now with a free trial of Lighthouse software here.
leadership stories - pay attention to your people
Leadership Stories #2: How a missed phone call made a great impression
The second leadership story, is not one I experienced first hand, but it’s stuck with me ever since. I learned it from my father, who I’m lucky to have as a father and a mentor in business and leadership.
He told me this story during a catch up call shortly after it happened. Since learning the lesson, I’ve tried to always do the same to great effect, so sharing it with you today.
The phone call
One day, my father was meeting privately in his office with a staff member. They were discussing a number of issues important to them when the phone rang.
My father ignored it.