Leadership Conversations: Challenging High Potential Managers to Become Great Leaders

CHAPTER 8

People Aren’t Machines

People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.

—MAYA ANGELOU

Some executives devalue their people by treating them like machines. Those executives implement processes and procedures to maintain control, and are disappointed when their people respond by waiting to be told what to do. By contrast, effective leaders sense that their organization is a collage of individual aspirations and expectations connected by a higher purpose and shared successes. Those leaders reach out to each person in their domain to build relationships that are collaborative and creative. They have conversations that motivate and inspire, as well as ones that provide ...