To Invest in your People
According to Dictionary.com, to invest is “to use, give, or devote time, talent, etc., to achieve or gain something in return.” As you might invest time in a garden to take in its beauty or consume its vegetables, or as you might invest in real estate to create more income, you invest in people to gain something; that something is to make them better people. Notice I did not say increase productivity, efficiency or sales.
This means you invest your personal time as a leader to focus on your people engaging with them daily (even if only virtually), coaching and growing them and helping them to attain their goals and identify and live out their passions. You develop and manage organizational operations and processes which are people-centric, meaning they are designed and adjusted around people not with people as the afterthought. You never assume risk for caring for and investing in people. It remains a personal and organizational priority. You invest time in getting to know your people and their families praising and recognizing them for their incredible feats. From this approach, finance, marketing, product development and profitability stand a better chance of succeeding.
Entering brigade command in the 101st Airborne Division in 2013, I knew I had to focus on making people better people. In my organization, I had numerous leaders, including myself, who could prepare us to seize a hilltop, of that I had no doubt. However, if my people were not functioning at 100 percent physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually none of that mattered. Moreover, if they did not feel that their leaders knew them personally and were looking out for them and their families, if they didn’t understand our vision and believed in what the brigade’s leadership believed in, they might not give their all to a mission to seize a hilltop or any other critical task we were sure to receive. The same is true in a business. You can study the relationship between employee activity and productivity and efficiency all day long. You can even throw in benefits like bonuses and time off, but if you do not invest in your people, as I describe in my book, it doesn’t matter. They may perform for a short period, but the effort will fail eventually.
Take some time to examine your leadership. Reflect on your activities throughout a day or week. How much of these activities are 'investing in people' activities? I'm standing by to help you and your team invest in your people. It proved wonders for me as a leader in numerous organizations. I want to share that with you.
Make it Personal!
Rob
Rob Campbell