How a missed phone call made a great impression
One day, my father was
meeting privately in his office with a staff member. They were discussing a
number of issues important to them when the phone rang.
My father ignored it.
After 3 rings, she looked
at him and asked, “Aren’t you going to get that?”
He paused, and
remarked, “No. I don’t know whether that call is important or not, but
it can wait. I do know this meeting is important.”
Feeling valued, she got a
big smile and they continued the conversation with new energy.
The Lesson:
What you pay attention
to, and how you respond to things matters a great deal to your team.
If you meet with your
people and let push notifications, texts, IMs, and calls constantly distract
you, you’re telling your team those things are more important than them.
When people don’t feel
valued, they won’t trust you, or bother to bring issues to you unless they feel
they will get your attention. It’s a great way to end up in a constant fire
fighting, reactive management mode.
Why it works:
When you show your people
you value your time with them, you are much more likely to have strong
communication and engagement with them.
As you can see, if they
don’t feel like they can approach you, there’s virtually no chance they’re
engaged.
When you let distractions
pull you away from your time with your people, you’re discouraging them from
approaching you.
Go to airplane mode if
you have to, or at least silence the notifications. You never know when not
answering the phone will pay off with your team.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Are you Leading?
Dr. Deepak A. Patil
CEO, Lead ThySelf
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