Leaders Care!

Ultimately, a leader who shows that he cares is good for the organization. Some critics may write this off as being touchy-feely, but people are people and an organization is made up of many, many emotional people.

A leader has to find a way to show his followers that he cares about them. In fact, showing that you care about your followers is not only necessary, it’s a requirement. Followers don’t really care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.

If your followers feel like you don’t care about them, they will only give the bare minimum as far as effort is concerned. People will not necessarily respect you because of the position you hold, they will respect you based upon how you carry out your responsibilities and how you treat them. Leaders will gain their followers respect by practicing the golden rule, in other words, by treating their followers as they wish to be treated.

Followers will pay attention to everything you do and say in order to gain an understanding of who you are as a person. They want to find ways to relate to you; to find common ground and/or similarities. As the leader, you have to be open to allowing your followers to get to know you on that level.

Leaders can show that they care in many ways. Leaders show they care by what they say...the words they choose to convey their message. Leaders show they care by how they act or behave… followers are watching everything that they do. Leaders show they care by how they lead… the actions they take in doing their jobs. Leaders show they care by showing appreciation for the contributions made by their followers….followers need to know that their leaders value what they do for the organization.

Three ways for leaders to show that they care:

1. Leaders show they care by doing little things like getting to know their followers names, hobbies, and family member names…basically by getting to know their people;

2. Leaders show they care by being willing to go out on a limb for their followers, especially when the need for assistance is great, this is a wonderful way to show people that you care;

3. Leaders show they care by being willing to listen to their followers ideas, opinions, and even gripes and complaints…to a point.