Most Leadership Misses Come From This
Most leadership misses don’t come from a lack of care… they come from a lack of noticing. In the busyness of day-to-day work, it’s easy to move quickly from task to task without truly being present with the people around us.
In this Two-Minute Tip, I share a simple, practical shift to help you slow down, pay closer attention, and better support your team. Because often, the smallest moments of noticing (like who’s quieter than usual, who’s energized, what’s left unsaid) can make the biggest difference in how people feel and perform.
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Well, every year my husband makes the same New Year's resolution. It's kind of a running joke in our family at this point, but that resolution is to get better at remembering people's names. And I'll be honest, I don't think he's all that bad at this, but he obviously sees room for improvement.
One of the things that he does best is anytime he's on the phone with somebody, specifically somebody from a customer service helpline, he is very intentional about asking what their name is, ensuring he has the pronunciation correctly. He says it back to them to make sure, and then he utilizes their name throughout the conversation.
Now this might seem like a really small, minor thing, but I think it makes the other person feel actually seen, noticed, cared for as an individual on the other end of the line, and I will tell you that his calls with customer service typically end up quite favorably as a result. This reminded me of a skill that I was recently reading about in the book, Unreasonable Hospitality.
Side note, my favorite new business book. And Will Guidara, the author, talks about how hospitality really starts with noticing. The skill of noticing. Are we being present with the people around us and truly noticing what's going on for them? Are we noticing what's happening below the surface? Are we paying attention?
I will say that most leadership misses don't happen because the leader doesn't care. Although that does happen from time to time. Honestly, the misses come when we don't slow down enough to be present and truly notice.
And so in your next interactions with your team, I want you to notice who's being a little bit more quiet than usual today.
What question might need to be raised that nobody's asking?
Who seems extra energized today? Or maybe you're noticing who could use some extra support. Your challenge this week is to slow down, be fully present, and practice the skill of noticing.