Dan knew for sure that one of his team members was a future senior leader. He first got to know her by talking to her about her personal and professional experience. Over time, he discovered that he could count on her to deliver what she promised. She demonstrated her commitment to make a difference to their organisation.
Dan noticed a warning label, that she did not see, that she was inclined to be a perfectionist. Nothing she accomplished was ever enough to satisfy her.
He took her under his wing and encouraged her to take on bigger challenges. She stepped up and delivered on the challenges he gave her. He supported her with executive coaching as part of his commitment to bring out the best in her and help her deal with her perfectionist tendency.
She soaked it up like a sponge and built a name for herself as a leader who produced big results in rapid time.
Her career has gone ahead in leaps and bounds, much as Dan expected. She attributes her success as a senior executive to Dan’s encouragement and belief in her. She is now following Dan’s example by connecting with the people who surround her to help them discover their greatness.
Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup Company puts it well in his recent book, The Blueprint, “You must be both tough-minded on standards and tender-hearted with people,” he says. He turned Campbell Soup around with a unique approach to valuing people, which included writing over 30,000 personalised notes of thanks to his employees during his nine years as CEO.
🙋 How do you connect with great people around you ? 🙋♀️
Best regards, Brian
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