Would You Work For You?
I have a poem pinned to the notice board by my desk. It was sent to me by e mail about 28 years ago by my then boss’s, boss’s boss, Kurt Hafner, Head of Culinary Concepts at British Airways. I was several rungs below him working as an Inflight Catering Executive, and about to get married. His poem was funny, personal, and unforgettable – a free, but powerful gesture of kindness from a leader who truly saw people.
Kurt, and many others at British Airways taught me what great management and leadership looks like, sounds like and feels like, and yes – some taught me what not so great looks like, and I’m grateful to them too, just for different reasons!
Those early experiences lit the fire that still burns strongly in me today. I realised how deeply managers and leaders shape the careers & lives of the people around them – for better or worse. That insight became my personal ‘why’ for designing leadership and management development programmes.
When I run those programmes, I often say;
“you’re already on someone’s list, which list do you want to be on?”
not to shame or embarrass them, but because as busy human beings, it’s easy to forget, and leadership (and management) is a human act before it’s a business one.
Ali Stewart, in Liberating Leadership, puts it beautifully;
“Great leaders are not charismatic geniuses, they are ordinary people who achieve extraordinary things because of who they are and what they do consistently”
The word, consistently matters. It’s not about dramatic moments, flamboyant gestures or sizzling speeches (not to say these don’t have their place!), it’s about showing up, day in, day out with intentions, with quiet, consistent endeavour.
Recently, a group of emerging leaders I worked with created a list of the qualities they saw in the nest managers and leaders they’ve known. Here’s what they said ;
Empowering, listens, recognises me, credits my ideas, curious, inspiring, authentic, shares ideas, personable – sees me as a person, has empathy, is trusting and trusted, creates collaboration, is an exemplar, celebrates effort as well as outcome, champions my development, is credible, questioning, coaches, mentors, teaches, is someone I can learn from.
The people may change, but the answers to the question don’t – the list is always the same. What would your team say about you?
We’ve created a Leadership Pulse Check to help you explore just that! with space for self-reflection, reflections from others and 3 simple actions you can try this month.