One of the hallmarks of a Great Leader is a caring attitude. Great Leaders genuinely care about the people that they have the privilege of leading. Not long ago, I had the pleasure of meeting and working with a Great Leader that I’ll call Katie.
Katie is the Human Resources Manager at a company. Like many companies today, Katie’s company offers a number of benefit options that allows each employee to select benefits from a “menu” empowering each employee to “tailor” a benefits package that best fits the employee’s needs and the needs of his/her family. Part of Katie’s job is to make certain that all of the employees complete their benefits sign up.
Like many HR Managers, Katie conducted an employee meeting to distribute the most current benefits book. Like most HR Managers, Katie told the employees the first day and the last day on which they could submit their choices. At this point, Katie had completed the responsibilities delineated in her job description. This is also the point at which she began going “above and beyond” her assigned tasks.
First, she took the time to make sure that she fully understood each of the benefit options and what differentiated one from another. She took the time to answer employee questions. She asked questions to better understand the employee’s family situation. She offered suggestions without ever telling the employee what he/she should do. She followed up with employees to make certain that they had made and submitted their choices.
I was fortunate enough to witness these things and had an opportunity to talk with Katie. As we talked about her obvious care for the people she worked with, she made a comment that demonstrated how much she cared.
“The benefits the company provides are a big part of each employee’s compensation. If I don’t do everything I can to make sure that each person gets the best benefits for their family needs, it’s the same as me not giving them every paycheck they’ve earned.”
In these two sentences, Katie summed up the caring attitude of every Great Leader. Great Leaders genuinely care about the people that they have been given the privilege of leading; want the people to receive all of the compensation, all of the recognition, all of the honor that they have earned. Thank you, Katie, for providing this example of great leadership in action!
Have you had the privilege of working with a Great Leader who similarly demonstrated how Great Leaders care about the team members that they lead? Click “Comment” and share your story.
Tom Hoisington is a speaker, trainer, and author whose goal is to provide leaders and potential leaders with tools that empower them to build teams that are creative and cost effective along with a clearer understanding of how personality types interact within those teams. He can be contacted at tom.hoisington@eagleoneresources.com