My wife and I just took our 5-year-old fraternal twins on a skiing vacation. Our daughter is caution incarnate. She likes to ski in a familial caravan — one parent ahead and one behind — and she wants constant feedback about her performance. Our son likes to get a rough idea of the conditions — icy here, snowboarders there — and push off. He doesn’t mind falling and doesn’t particularly care what we think of his performance. It’s astounding how different twins can be.
I’m constantly amazed how my children can uncover insights that allow me to see my role as a leader in a new light. I’m always seeking new ways to create engaged, high-performing teams, and typically, that devolves to some type of employee segmentation, by generation, job description or personality. We’re told that millennials often prefer to work this way, programmers want to work that way, and that Driver and Pioneer Business Chemistry styles want to work yet another way. But if my twins respond best to radically different conditions and parenting styles, can any type of segmentation be granular enough to respond to the individual needs of employees?
I suspect that it can’t. To engage with people on a truly human level — that is, to get beyond the employees-as-interchangeable-assets mindset — we need to be far more responsive to employees as individuals.
Some companies are gearing up for that new reality with programs and processes. For instance, my organization offers flexible work scheduling. When new moms and dads on my team return from parental leave, they can adjust their work lives to accommodate the needs of their newly expanded families. We also use a reservation-based seating system in our offices called hoteling, so that no matter where employees are in the world, a desk in an office is available to them. Why? For all the interest in remote work, some of us want to work in structured environments, surrounded by other people.
But programs and processes aren’t enough. Leaders must step up, too. My end goal as a parent is happy, engaged kids and my kids ski their best in different ways. Likewise, my goal as a leader is happy, engaged team members and the members of my team work their best in different ways.
How can I — indeed, how can all leaders — ensure that the people for whom they are responsible are happy, engaged and meaningful contributors?
First, I think we need to recognize that people don’t really come in segments or cohorts, no matter how demographically or psychologically alike they may appear. My twins aren’t the same; obviously all employees born between 1980 and 2000 aren’t either. Every employee brings unique strengths, perspectives and needs to the workplace. Leaders must not only recognize this but also celebrate it. In doing so, we become models for the values of inclusion and diversity.
Second, leaders must understand that every worker finds meaning and purpose in different ways. My daughter is empowered by skiing as a team, my son on a solo run. I need to let each of my team members define what they need, and not impose my ideas on them. Then, I need to provide each of them with the support they need to be successful.
Third, as leaders, it is our responsibility to weave the strengths and perspectives of employees together in a way that generates a collaborative effort capable of achieving the goals of the organization to which we all belong. My wife and I aren’t waving goodbye to our 5-year-old son as he heads off for a day of heli-skiing. We give the twins a plan for the day that includes how long and where we’ll all ski and when we’ll stop to get warm or get a snack. Leaders need to ensure that all the members of their teams know the goals of the organization and the plan for achieving them — at a high level and at the level of their individual performance.
Fourth, leaders need to constantly monitor the ever-changing conditions that may affect employees. On vacation, my wife and I are watching the weather, checking on the slopes and keeping a close eye on how the twins are holding up throughout the day. As leaders, we should always be watching and listening for signs that employees are well and that they have what they need to do their jobs as conditions change. When they don’t, or if they struggle, we need to step in and provide them with what they need, whether that is an opportunity to recharge, retrain and/or retool.
Finally, as leaders, we need to bring our authentic selves to work. Our kids know who my wife and I are and what we believe. The people we lead want to know that, too. In fact, they are demanding it. People want to work for companies and leaders who are willing to take a stand on important social issues.
No two people — even twins — are exactly alike. We all have unique skills and will take a different approach to the same task, whether it’s learning to ski or learning to navigate the influx of technology in the workplace. And we all feel empowered by different things, but as leaders, if we recognize and celebrate this, we can help people find meaning in the work they do.
