What People Pay Attention To

When I was a young leader, I thought that my teammates paid attention to what I said.  If I was clear in my directions and clear in my expectations, I could be confident that they would follow through.

I was wrong.

Over the years, I have learned that when we become leaders, our colleagues pay attention to far more than what we say.

They pay attention to four things:

-What We Say
-What We Don’t Say
-What We Do
-What We Don’t Do

When we become leaders, we must realize that people are paying close attention to our words and our actions.  And they will read between the lines.

That means they will talk about and think about what we do not say and do not do,

As leaders, we are role models.  We are always on stage.  If we do not enjoy being on stage, we ought not to aspire to leadership positions.

Serving as a leader is both an honor and an obligation.  When we lead people, we have the opportunity to influence their present and future for good.

We have the chance to help them develop their skills and knowledge.  We have the obligation to be guides and mentors to many people in pursuit of a common goal for the benefit of customers, colleagues and stakeholders.

Knowing that our people are paying close attention to what we say and don’t say, to what we do and don’t do, motivates us to engage in more reflection and advance thinking.

How do we want to show up each day?

How can we take best advantage of the fact that people are always looking?

How can we use our leadership pulpit to spread a message of:
-high trust,
-hard work
-positive contributions
-customer support excellence
-personal growth
-professional advancement

These questions will never be permanently answered.

However, if we acknowledge that we are always on stage and people are always looking, we will be motivated to make wise decisions and show up as authentic, self-aware leaders.