I recently ran into a person I worked with about 14 years ago and during our conversation, he went out of his way to thank me for being such a great influence on him when he was an employee of mine. He went so far as to tell me that he has patterned his management style to match mine. I thanked him for all his kind words and considering I am always trying to become a more effective manager, I asked him “what exactly was it that you learned from me that made you want to pattern your style to match mine?” I wanted to know what it was that I said that he remembered.
The interesting thing was that he had no answer at first but as he thought about it, he told me how much he enjoyed the hour long walking meetings we would have. He and I would leave the office and go for a two and a half mile walk around the local neighborhood and talk. We would talk about business for a brief period but I would purposely leave it very loose so most of the conversation was anything and everything but business. Those walks helped me to truly get to know and understand him.
He also mentioned that he’ll never forget the time he and I were talking about the Marvel Comics movie, Daredevil that had recently been released and how we both wanted to see it. After about 15 minutes of discussing several of the Marvel and DC superheroes, I said to him “Want to go see the movie right now?” He said “During work?” I said “Yeah.” So I grabbed my car keys, drove the both of us to the theater and we watched the movie.
That happened about 14 years ago but that moment left such an impression on him and he still remembered the exact theater we went to, the medium coke and popcorn he ordered and where we sat in the theater. He finished by saying, “It wasn’t any one thing that you said to me when you were my manager, it was the whole experience. It was how you sincerely cared about me and my future.”
It was more about how he felt.
It’s similar to thinking back to your favorite teacher in school. My favorite teacher was my health teacher, Mr. Jack Anthony but if you were to ask me why he was my favorite, my answer wouldn’t include reciting some information he taught from a chapter of the health and fitness book. I don’t remember anything from that class. It was because he genuinely cared about me and my future. He invested time in me and made me feel important and unique.
Think of your colleagues, peers and the people you may interact with on a daily basis. Now think of your best friend. What’s the difference? For me it’s simple, my best friend, Jeff Galle sincerely cares about me and my family. He goes out of his way to make me feel important by doing the small things like listen to every episode of this podcast (sometimes more than once) and critique it. He sincerely cares and wants to make a difference in my life. The amazing thing about Jeff is that he has a considerable amount of friends that would probably categorize him as “best friend” simply because he invests time in each person and makes them feel important and unique.
By the way Jeff, Happy Birthday! April 23rd.
The famous poet Maya Angelou once said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Treating people as unique individuals. Getting to really know them, giving each employee your undivided attention and catering to each employees unique needs and talents - that’s what makes a great manager.
Every individual is unique. I like having walking meetings when the weather is nice but I don’t do that with everyone and I certainly don’t take everyone to the movies, I adjust to the unique needs of each individual. I try to make everyone on my team believe they are the most important person on my team. That’s what I believe makes a great manager and that works for me. There is nothing greater than when someone thanks me for helping them succeed in their professional or personal life. There is nothing greater than that!
So if you want great employees, you need to be a great manager first. Great talent recognises and hires great talent! Great talent creates great talent. That’s how you build a great company. It’s as simple as that.
So how do you become a great manager? Start by recognizing your employees are all unique and are your greatest asset and begin treating them that way.
Meet with them weekly, one on one and actually get to know them. When meeting with them, take them out of the office environment so it allows for more casual conversation - go for a walk or go to a local coffee house. Ask them about their family and their future. Ask them where they want to be in a year, three years and help them get there. Treat them as unique individuals.
Make them feel important and give them purpose and in return, they will give you, your company and your customers the loyalty, caring and service (and possibly years later the “Thank You for all you have done for me”) that will make you proud!
I hope you have a great day!