As a leader, manager, supervisor…
You get to do the coolest f*cking thing ever…
You get to create more good, more support, more love, more compassion, more honesty, more acceptance, more understanding, more unabashed humanness at work and in the world.
You get to actually change people’s lives…
Maybe that’s why you originally moved into a leadership role.
To offer something better than you’ve experienced with other managers and leaders in the past.
To do things differently….
To collaborate with your people on creative solutions to the problems preventing them from doing their best work instead of making all of the decisions, assumptions, and goals yourself without their insights and expertise.
To give your people the chance to be honest that the reason they accidentally sent the wrong proposal to the client was because they didn’t get much sleep the night before since their 4-year-old had a high fever all night. It wasn’t because they are careless, incompetent, or need to be put on a performance improvement plan.
To provide the coaching, purposeful guidance, and patience they need to further develop their skills so they can continue to grow and contribute and see the value of the work they are doing.
Or maybe not.
We just sort of met so I’d be a total d*ck to assume that I know anything about you beyond the fact that…
(a) you have a beating heart of some kind and
(b) you have at least one lung because some Google search results article said it’s possible to live with only one lung.
Still, no matter why you became a leader…
You get to do so much good for your people and their people because this kind of impact definitely ripples out.
You get to make decisions. And those decisions make an impact.
This is a given for your role.
Creating change for your people is already available to you.
Right now.
Again, the coolest f*cking thing ever.
And this isn’t just for CEO’s and C-suite suits…
This is for you.
The person who is with your people day-to-day. Who talks to them every day. Who listens to them every day. Who sees their daily contributions and struggles and sends them Michael Scott gifs because you know those make them laugh the most after dealing with the client who shall not be named.
How we feel comes from the culmination of our moments.
And you’re there for a hell of a lot of moments for your people each day, in a way that a CEO or higher up just can’t be. Which is why your impact is so much deeper and profound.
This is something YOU get to do from the moment your role changed into one where you are making decisions that impact other people.
It’s something that you’re already doing, whether it’s on purpose or not.
Even if the only decision you are empowered to make is to decide on the process for how your team will request PTO or vacation time…
You are making an impact.
And that impact can be you giving your people more of what they want and more of what you want to offer them.