Let’s face it, money has a lot of power, and it drives business. However, money doesn’t tell the whole story. It barely skims the surface of human emotion, skill, planning, and effort teams invest in their jobs. Organizations are living, breathing cultures that come together to do something worthwhile. Every organization has a story brought to life by its people. 

You can trade people for profit, but your story will suffer. It will feel jagged and incongruent. The gratification of quick profit will get you success in the short term, but your core value will fade away in the long run.

Without the richness of emotion, progress seems pointless—people matter. If we put energy into relationships and bring out the best in our people, they will help you thrive.

Besides, what choice do we have? For organizations to remain viable today, we have to be nimble, responsive, and innovative. These are all qualities you find in people. 

LEADERS: MAKE YOUR PEOPLE ​A PRIORITY​

When you look at your team, do you see people for their uniqueness? Or do you see them as a means to an end? 

The way you look at your team will determine the way they look at themselves. 

When you look at your team, what do you see? 

A group of hard-working, worn-out people? Or do you see potential? Do you see the value in everyone?

To lead people to greatness, you have to see in them what’s become invisible. Pull out of them the skill, talent, and desire they’ve kept hidden. 

​Focus on People's Strengths

I once had a manager who was always worried. He worried about layoffs, he worried about budget numbers, he worried about profit and performance. ​It was really hard on him. I can imagine that most of the dead space in his brain was filled up with worry and doubt. It came through in the way he leads our team. Mostly we spent our days reacting to problems and fighting customers.

I grew to love my team. They were amazing, talented, focused and worked really well under pressure. We actually had a great culture despite our manager.

​When leaders focus on problems, it invites more problems. When they focus on weakness or worry, this tends to flourish- not our strengths. 

It can be a simple mindset shift- focus on people's strengths. ​

Most leaders assess their teams for the activities they perform. They don’t see them for the underlying value they provide or their emotional investment. They don’t see the richness of their experience, the consistent work ethic, the pride in the details, the way they shape your customer’s experience or their uniqueness.

When you give someone a job, you give them a purpose. What many leaders ​don't notice​ is the people come for the purpose. We’re not here for the collection of tasks you want us to complete. We’re not here just for a paycheck; We’re entitled to that. 

We’re here to see if you can lead us towards purpose. There must be a reason we work every day; it must amount to something. Connect our collective action to people’s talent and drive and show us our purpose. 

If you rely on me, you count on my voice, opinion, passion and skill, and the whole thing is worthwhile; I​ feel important. 

Every journey begins with a destination. If you don’t know where you're headed, you’ll never get there. What is our destination? Sometimes it’s unclear because of the economy and outside forces, so you have to rely on hope. 

​When the team knows their leader believes in them and want them to grow- this direction will keep a strong positive focus. ​Teams become visible when they see purpose, progress and a destination. 

In the face of uncertainty, people get scared. Our direction is fuzzy, and we don’t know where we stand.

It’s stressful, but this is not the time to fade away as a leader. It would help if you stayed highly visible in the face of uncertainty. Step confidently in front of fear because it is the silent enemy that will wear teams down. 

Guide your curiosity to find your own definition of success. You need to find your own calm and resolve within the work you do. 

Keynote Speaker on change

Take a strong and consistent stand based on your values. Pandering for others’ approval, you have to be a chameleon and change your colours based on where you can draw the most appeal. But we grow weary of leaders who flip flop their ideals to meet the popular vote.