Meet people where they are.

Meet people where they are.

I had the privilege of working with a client who was brilliant at this. And who consciously cultivated their talent for it.

They took over a company from the founder after 15 years of leadership.

They inherited a small, dedicated but trepidatious team.

They could have swung the axe. They could have frozen out. They could have made demands that couldn’t be met.

Instead they chose to meet the team, on their individual and collective terms, where they were at.

This meant taking the time, over time, to listen empathetically to what the team feared. To what they wanted. To what they needed.

Then setting an ambitious but realistic invitation to somewhere new. To get to. To reach for.

And finally, with them, building a bridge between where they were at and where they wanted and needed to be.

And crucially, my client recognised that they themselves had a journey to go on in order to build that bridge in the first place.

It wasn’t the easiest choice. It might not have been the most expedient choice. It definitely wasn’t the obvious choice.

But it was authentic. And human. Appreciated and respected.

And in time, it began to be the difference between success and failure.

You can instil fear.

Or earn respect.

But meeting people where they are at with empathy, understanding and the belief in their potential commands one of the most valuable, most coveted and most powerful sentiments a follower can feel towards a leader.

Loyalty.

My client taught that one of the most under-rated ways of leading is nothing to do with striking ahead of followers to the place you want them to reach.

But in meeting them where they are.