Leaders, stop working all the time and get with your people.
One of the common mistakes I see in leadership is leaders that are just focused on doing the work all day, every day. They’re in their office working on their laptops, and they don’t come out. Leaders, that’s not your role. You’re leading people; you shouldn’t be doing all the work. If you’re doing all the work, you’re not leading. And you’re taking opportunities away from your people.
Close your laptop, get out of your office and spend time with your people. Get to know them, what motivates them and what demotivates them. Get to know the whole person; learn about their passions inside and outside of work, their aspirations and plans for their future. You have to get to know your people if you’re going to build a great team that will produce great results and help everybody get where they want to go.
If you don’t connect with your team and you’re busy doing work or assigning work, I think you’re doing it wrong. That’s not a leader’s role. There’s no such thing as leadership without people to lead. If you want to be a leader, get with your people, connect with them and lead them.
