Great leaders that I worked for during my Navy career all had one thing in common. They also reminded me often of the importance of this behavior – they mentored me well!
During my 3 years in command (I was Commanding Officer of Naval Hospital Bremerton, WA from 2008 to 2011), I would routinely spend a portion of the day walking around the hospital complex.
After the morning Board of Directors meeting, I’d head out and wander the command interacting with employees. I loved it! I loved it for many reasons: it gave me the opportunity to thank employees, ask them how I could help, and banter with them about topics I knew were of interest to them (sports, hobbies, family). I was also able to get an excellent sense of morale within the command.
However, my ‘wanderings’ were not always random. They often had a purpose.
I don’t recall a time when these conversations didn’t produce at least one enormously valuable nugget of information.
During our daily morning Board of Directors meetings, I found it valuable to carefully watch the reactions of the different members as issues were deliberated. The members had healthy disagreements over issues and respectfully voiced their concerns during our meetings. However, despite working diligently to drive out fear, and build trust, among this important body, I understood that not everyone was always going to speak their minds.
This was generally more prevalent with newer members of the board – they were less inclined to risk opening their mouths for fear of alienating themselves from the group. Once in a while I sensed that even seasoned board members would sometimes elect to keep their thoughts to themselves. Perhaps they weren’t convinced their point was important, or maybe the meeting was simply running late!
Regardless, I would watch member’s body language. If I sensed that they had something to contribute but weren’t speaking up, I’d either ask them for their thoughts during the meeting, or make a mental note to visit them some time during the day.
I found the latter to be extremely valuable.
During my visit, we’d of course start by casually exchanging pleasantries. I’d then pivot and ask them of their thoughts on the issue. I don’t recall a time when these conversations didn’t produce at least one enormously valuable nugget of information. Each conversation helped me move from ambiguity to certainty on any number of issues.
Why were these visits so valuable?
They were valuable because of my hundreds of other visits I had with board members over the weeks, months and years. These visits were indeed random visits – with no agenda other than to continue to nurture the relationship. During these visits – the ‘social’ visits – I’d exchange pleasantries, thank them for their work, and ask if there was anything they needed.
Getting out of your office and visiting with your employees is time consuming…but it’s absolutely time well spent. It helps drive out fear and build trust.
While the social visits were certainly time consuming, the time invested was critically important in creating a culture of trust. Because of that trust, on those visits when I did have a specific issue I wanted to discuss, the employee would give me his/her valuable thoughts. I was able to move from ambiguity to certainty.
Think about this honestly for a moment. If you hadn’t seen your boss since your annual review in January, and all of the sudden in July he stops by your office out of the blue to casually mentioning that he wants to “talk to you about an issue,” your initial thoughts are not pleasant ones! There’s no trust. You’ll be on guard. The conversation probably will not be productive. It may in fact cause more fear.
Recall from my March 2017 blog that all interactions between the leader and the follower impacts culture. A leader has numerous interactions with members of the team each day…on a minute-by-minute basis…each of which incrementally changes the team culture.
The great leaders fully appreciate this dynamic. They are mindful that these interactions are golden opportunities to build trust. Not only do they take advantage of the interactions when they naturally occur, but they take it step further and proactively create more of them. The great leaders schedule time to get out of their office to increase their visibility, and take maximal advantage to leverage this powerful behavior.
Be a great leader and be visible…spend time with your team…and don’t forget to enjoy the journey!
Mark