We reviewed Step 1: People Must Be First in the last post and discussed WHY your people must be first. In this post, we are going to discuss HOW to put your people first.
The 3 Categories of Putting Your People First
Here are the three categories to think through putting your people first: (1) Think with a People First Perspective, (2) Do People First Actions, and (3) Make People First Decisions.
Remember, the outcome you’re creating with the People Must Be First step is to create commitment in each of your team members to YOU as their leader. Another way to think about this is that you are trying to create a team environment where people really want to work with you and follow you. Here’s how you do it.
Think with a People First Perspective
Before you can actually do anything, you must get your perspective right!
- Believe It – You must fully believe that your leadership purpose is to lead as a service to your team members by putting them first. I head Andy Stanley once say that as leaders “we get our meaning by moving beyond ourselves”. You have to fully embrace that your meaning comes not from what you do but from what you do through your team. You can’t fake it or do it half way, otherwise your team won’t believe you. [Note: Andy Stanley has probably been the greatest outside influence on my leadership perspective and I’d strongly encourage you to check him out. Read my review of his podcast.]
- Accept Responsibility – You must accept full responsibility and accountability for your leadership style and approach. You can’t make excuses for why you can’t be a People First leader and you can’t blame someone else (e.g. your boss, your team, your company, etc.). You must take ownership in how you lead no matter what.
- Genuinely Care – You need to genuinely care for your team members and want what’s best for them.
Do People-First Actions
Once you have your perspective appropriately aligned, you have to show your people that you put them first. Remember, actions speak louder than words. Here are a bunch of ways to do that:
- Create Space – Give your people time and attention. Make them feel welcome to come talk to you; don’t make them feel like an inconvenience. Carve out time on your calendar for you to initiate casual conversations with your team members (physically or digitally).
- Build Relationships – Get to know your team members on a personal level. Ask about their families and personal lives. Create the foundation of a real relationship.
- Champion Your Team – Be a champion for your people. Fight for them. Cheer them on. Promote them. Brag about them. Celebrate them.
- Value Others – Make your people feel valued. Point out their contributions and strengths. Treat them as humans with emotions, families, stress, etc.
- Create Trust – Be honest. Hold yourself accountable. Do what you say you’re going to do. Be humble.
- Have Fun – Create, prioritize, and have fun. You can plan it yourself or delegate it, just make sure it happens.
- Make Heroes – Make your people feel like the hero of their own story (H/T to Reid Hoffman for this idea).
- Give Recognition – Recognize your team members often. Do it big, do it small, just do it.
- Care – Find ways to tangibly care for your team. Connect people to helpful life resources. Care for people when they’re grieving. Give younger employees life advice.
- Honest Feedback – Give your team members honest and direct feedback while still caring for them personally (I suggest reading the book Radical Candor).
- Give Flexibility – Let your team members balance work and life together. Say yes to as many flexibility requests as possible. Only say no when you absolutely have to.
- Be Welcoming – Make new team members feel extremely welcome. Celebrate when they start. Buy them lunch. Ask how you can help them transition. Get them working on day 1.
- Small Things Matter – Put people first in the small things, it doesn’t have to be big things. Oftentimes the small things mean the most.
Make People-First Decisions
When you make decisions, consider your people as a primary factor and think about their impact.
Note: Making People First decisions can make the decision harder and take longer but it’s a worthwhile investment. This is honestly one of the hardest aspects of my framework to teach because in hard scenarios (which do occur) people assume you can either give team members what they want OR make the hard, unpopular decision that is necessary. I don’t think it’s a matter of either-or, that’s the easy way out. I think with intentionality, desire, and integrative thinking, there are oftentimes better solutions that show you are caring for your team members. But even if you can’t, your team members will be grateful you tried hard to find a way.
- Get Input – Get input from your people before making a decision that will impact them.
- Match People to Work – Ask people what they want to work on before assigning work and try to match them up with the work they will be most passionate about. If you can do this, their commitment, output, and results will be greater. It typically just takes a little extra effort on your part to make this happen. It’s worth it.
- Explain Decisions – Explain decisions to your team members in good scenarios and even more so in bad scenarios. Acknowledge when decisions negatively impact people; don’t hide from it.
- Delegate Decisions – Empower your team members to make decisions as much as you can. The less decisions you have to make the better.
Commitment Is The First Outcome to Sustainable Success
If you can serve your team and put your people first by thinking with (1) a people first perspective, (2) doing people first actions, and (3) making people first decisions, you will create an environment where your team members COMMIT TO YOU as their leader. They will follow you into the work battles ahead and will be loyal to you. This is priceless for a leader. This is the first step toward creating sustainable success on your team. Start putting this in to practice and you can achieve this outcome.
If you can serve your team and put your people first you will create an environment where your team members COMMIT TO YOU as their leader. Share on XUp Next
In my next post, we’ll head to Part 4 of the People First Leadership Framework series and discuss Mission and Vision Come Second.
Discussion Questions – Let me know what you think
- What other ways can you think of to put your people first through your perspective, actions, or decisions? I’d love to add to my list.
- If it’s hard to take responsibility and ownership in how you lead, why?
- What’s your top action item or takeaway from this post?
This post is the third post in the my People First Leadership Framework series.
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Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
