— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu above. —
I’M PLAYING WITH A WORD. I’m Shot, the rifle you have come to know. I was shot (washed up) and abandoned, after being shot (fired) several times. Shots of penicillin stave off infection. Shots of whiskey destroy sensibility. Shots of care win people over. Let’s stop there: Shoot your followers with that—caring, that is.
Caring trumps competence when it comes to employees. You may have heard the expression, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Now, caring may not factor high in credibility, but what’s credibility if no one cares. Caring is not mothering. It’s not faking concern, either. But it’s instrumental to having real followers. And to truly care you may have to dig deep into your empathy box, find some genuine compassion, and then subtly convey it without compromise.