This Is 80 Seconds Of Leadership Perfection

Welcome back to Together UP!

I talk about things that contribute to a mission of having as many people as possible say & feel, “I’m on the best team, I love coming in every day”

It starts with leaders and great teammates and we do it Together.

Now To The Good Stuff

I’m so glad you’re here. I think this is about to be in my top 3 favorite editions of Together UP. And as you’ll see, I’m fired up.

WHY.

What you’re about to watch below is perfection. I’ll break down why. And if you don’t read anything beyond, just spend the 80 seconds Watching It. 

I’m fired up because it is an example of something that translates across so many themes that are so crucial to people being led properly; people feeling connected; teams being successful; and what is far….too…..often….overlooked in the hustle and bustle of high expectations for teams, organizations, and leaders.

Genuine, Authentic, Detailed, Purposeful. Recognition.
Done in a way that makes the person feel truly seen.

AND WHEN YOU WATCH IT

I want you to watch what it looks like when someone feels truly seen by someone else.

I want you to watch the care U.S. Women’s Soccer Head Coach Emma Hayes takes in her words - even adjusting herself (1:03 mark) to find the right word when it didn’t represent it accurately at first.

I want you to watch the careful pace Coach Hayes uses in delivering this.

I want you to watch Coach Hayes purposefully inject this into the press conference proceedings to ensure she can intentionally highlight the “leader” to the left of her.

I want you to watch how she describes their relationship as working “with her.”

I want you to watch the detail Coach Hayes uses in describing and affirming the various ways Lindsay Horan - the captain of the US Gold Medal Winning Women’s Soccer team - impacted their group, when no one else was looking.

When no one else was looking.

And I want you to watch Lindsay Horan’s head go down early in the message when she realizes that she is experiencing being seen by someone. When she realizes this is deeper than just nice words or shining a light on her as captain, for captain’s sake and moving on.

You may need to watch it twice.

…..I hope you do.

And I hope you then share this with your boss, with your colleague, with your teammate, with your daughter, with your son, with your coach, with your Athletic Director with your husband.

And when you do share it, I hope you say “This is how it’s done, how can we learn to do this more?”

And I hope you say to yourself, how can I personally do this like Coach Hayes did, in order to inspire others to follow me?

And I hope you love it as much as I do.

Using my best Morgan Freeman Shawshank Redemption voice as “Red”.
I hope.

Take a moment:

*Credit Beanyman Sports 3 and Samantha Dudley

WHY THIS MATTERS

This matters because this isn’t just about the sports realm. This is about the human realm. This could be any organization. Any leader. Any person in any role.

It is a human need to be seen.

And It matters because it took 80 seconds.

Yet when people are asked about recognition or recognizing others on their team or in their organization, the majority of the responses are - if I’m being honest - LAZY.

It is either “Yes we do”, Or - a defiant, “if our people need to constantly be recognized than we’re just complacent and I need them to have GRIT.” To which the data further below will hopefully nudge you to say “hmmm” maybe I need to rethink my answer.”

The example above is not just nice words.

If placing names on a slide in a town hall allows you to answer “yes”.

If laying out a quick “good job everyone” gives you the perception that your people are being recognized in a way that they feel seen, well then… humbly… maybe we need to talk.

What This 80 Seconds Does

I ask you to think for a moment.

If you’re fearful of what acknowledging people will do for their complacency, for their work ethic, for your ability to have real conversations later on and give them honest feedback.

I ask you to reflect and imagine 3 months down the road, Emma Hayes and Lindsay Horan disagreeing on something. And Emma laying the hammer down on Lindsay. Or Emma observing a little bit of complacency on the part of Lindsay Horan on “the pitch” and calling her out to say work harder.

Does the 80 seconds you just witnessed make that easier or harder for these two to have a real conversation and move on for the betterment of the overall team?

Does it allow Lindsay the ability to absorb feedback, knowing Coach Emma has her best interest in mind, and her ultimate respect?

And think of the alternative.

If left without any communication of the type you see above, might Lindsay wonder - what does Coach think of the way I lead? Does she even notice the little things I do? Is it even worth doing them?

She may even start telling stories in her own head - stories that aren’t true - that Coach Hayes doesn’t appreciate what she does. Does she disagree with how I do it and is too stubborn to tell me. It may even cause her to change her ways - just to get attention.

What I’m describing is the VERY COMMON consequence I see in so many organizations and teams, who lack even basic forms of human interaction.

In fact, in a global study, when asked which invisible skill workers felt is the most looked down upon, they put empathy and compassion at the top of the list (27.4%), followed by a sense of curiosity, (19.8%) and listening skills/emotional intelligence (15.4%).

The result is time wasted telling yourself stories.

It’s time wasted trying to find the right way to perform, when you just might need the affirmation that you’re on the right track.

It’s time wasted worrying about what the boss might say about what you’re doing, instead of what your client might say or getting better at what you’re job really is.

It’s time wasted performing with no direction, where you could be firing on all cylinders in a well oiled machine.

Unfortunately too many teams and organizations call themselves “HIGH PERFORMING” based upon numbers and metrics, while their team is burning red hot and all they need is a little bit of grease to help things run smoothly.

This is the grease.

It’s 80 seconds for hours and hours and hours of benefit and hours and hours of a thriving performance.

The Power Is Shown Globally.

Data Points To Reinforce The Impact Helping Someone Feel Seen Can Have On Performance.

• Employees who receive great recognition are 20 times as likely to be engaged as employees who receive poor recognition. 20x!
  

• Feeling Valued: When we feel valued, we can more easily interact with our external worlds in a healthy way. We can heal wounds.
  

• 20.4% of employees are less likely to leave their organization if they feel seen.
  

• Only 23% (of Global Employees in a survey of strongly agree they get the right amount of recognition for the work they do

People leave because of it.

• According To Gallup, an astounding 42% of employees who voluntarily left their organization in the past year report that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.
  

• Nearly half (45%) of voluntary leavers report that neither a manager nor another leader proactively discussed their job satisfaction, performance or future with the organization with them in the three months before leaving.
  

• Despite being a fundamental employee need, only 1 in 4 worldwide strongly agree they have received recognition for their work in the last week. But when organizations move that bar up to six in 10, they stand to gain a 28% improvement in quality and 31% reduction in absenteeism.
  

• Gallup estimates that the replacement of leaders and managers costs around 200% of their salary, the replacement of professionals in technical roles is 80% of their salary.
  
  
  LASTLY

• Over half (53.2%) of employees feel either somewhat valued at work, or not valued at all.
  
  

We can do better, people.
It takes 80 seconds.

We’re better together.

Together UP!

I’d love to hear your feedback on other ideas, on how I can help your team, or just hear from you in general.

Tell me. [email protected]

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