People are people. I know that this may seem obvious, and you may be wondering to yourself, “Of course they are. Why is Karyn even bothering to say this?” The reason I’m saying this, is because this week’s Kind Leadership focus is on paying attention to the details.
We often think of leaders as responsible for “the big picture”: setting goals, targets and KPI’s and then being responsible for those end results…did we “get there or not”. But vision, goals, targets and KPIs are things. And leaders don’t lead things. Leaders lead people.
And to lead people so that they can contribute their best, create and innovate, satisfy customers and grow and blossom, Kind Leaders know and relate to their people as people. Fabulous human beings with ideas, feelings, diverse experiences and whole lives! Kind Leaders pay attention to details, both in getting to know those people as whole human beings, and in choosing and modeling the words used throughout the organization to talk about people. People aren’t things: they aren’t ‘top talent’, they aren’t ‘resources’ and they aren’t ‘FTE’s’. When these words are used to describe the fabulous people who give the ‘time of their lives’ to help your organization be successful, they are dehumanized. And that isn’t kind.
So, today, please pay close attention to the details, and the words being used to talk about people. If they aren’t human words, please change them! Kind Leadership is in the details!