Several years ago, a CEO was giving me a tour of his company’s headquarters. The executive offices were on the third floor, and most of the employees worked on the second. As we walked through that floor, people looked up, saw the CEO, and quickly went back to work. It was clear that he didn’t go in that part of the building often.
I suggested that a few times a week he take the stairs and spend a little time with the employees on the second floor. Say hello, ask how things were going, and make himself more accessible.
He told me he had too many other things to do.
I’ve been coaching and advising executives for more than 30 years, and this is something I still cannot understand. How can a leader be too busy to spend time with the people who make the business successful? Yet I hear it regularly. They’re going from meeting to meeting, reviewing budgets, putting out fires, and getting caught up in the details of daily operations. They’re so consumed with running the business that they seem to have forgotten the importance of leading their people.
Another CEO I worked with ran a company with about 350 employees spread across 11 offices, all within an hour’s drive of headquarters. When I asked how often he visited those offices, he told me twice a year, for about an hour each time. Several of the offices were along his regular commute home. He passed them twice a day, every day, and never stopped in. I was stunned. Think about the message that sends to the people working in those offices. He might as well have flipped them off as he drove by.
Some leaders have a completely different understanding of how they should spend their time.
I recently heard a CEO describe how he runs a highly successful organization. Every morning, he walks through the building to connect with employees. He wants to know what’s happening in their departments, what problems they’re encountering, and how he can help. He takes what he hears seriously and works to fix things that are getting in the way of people doing great work. Those conversations help him identify problems earlier, make better decisions, and create a stronger bond of trust with his employees. He considers building and protecting the culture his primary responsibility. He trusts his executive team to run the business, giving him more time to focus on his people.
This reflects something I believe deeply about building a people-first culture.
The way you treat those who work for you sends a clear message about how much you value them. They need to feel comfortable speaking up and sharing ideas. When leaders listen and show genuine interest, they build trust and create an environment where everyone wants to do great work and help the company succeed. I’m astonished how often leaders overlook something so important.
It’s easy to fill your day with meetings and operational responsibilities. Some of that work is essential, and there are decisions that only you can make. But building relationships with your employees and creating a strong culture are fundamental responsibilities of leadership. If you’re too busy to spend time with your people, you need to seriously reconsider your priorities.
Knowing where to focus your time and attention is an important part of strategic thinking. In my free, on-demand webinar, I share some of the tools and ideas I’ve used with leadership teams to help them think more strategically and build better business plans.
