The trick to leadership effectiveness

Are you tired of employees that don’t seem to care? 
Apathy on your team shows up as indifference, laziness and sluggish behavior. Apathetic employees are simply going through the motions, looking for a pay cheque. If you are looking for the magic trick to transform this behavior, read on!

I've been known to seem as though I don't care
I caught my mind wandering earlier today when my son stopped in to talk to me. I was thinking of the things I had yet to do instead of listening to him. In fact I completely missed at least 2-3 sentences of what he was saying. When I realized this, I pulled myself back to the present conversation.  (i.e. I practiced mindfulness) I looked at him, leaned in and focused on his excitement about his first time moving into a place on his own. When I took the time to focus and look at him, I could feel him get more excited and animate in his story. He felt heard.

Perhaps you've been on the receiving end, feeling as though you don't matter
You’ve probably been in the experience of my son, more times than you care to remember. You have been talking to someone and you know full well they are only partly there. It feels as if you are competing with some voice in their head that obviously only they can hear. When I’ve been in this situation, it feels as if the person “listening” doesn’t really care.

You might just be as guilty as I am ... on a regular basis
The truth in is leadership we do this to our employees constantly. In fact, we don’t even realize we do it. We talk to them about their work, their growth and the clients challenges, with only a small percentage of our consciousness on them. We are in fact apathetic towards employees. It appears as though we don't care!

Our own apathy makes employees feel insignificant and that their work irrelevant. 

Ouch! I bet that isn’t the impact you want to have!

Here is the trick to changing their apathy - Look into their eyes
To change this impact, the one magic trick is to establish and maintain eye contact. When you look into someone’s eyes, you establish a level of connection that portrays connection, compassion and trust. These are vital traits for effective leadership.

Employees want to be seen. They want to know that you know what they are up to. By keeping up to date on what they are involved in and their challenges, employees feel that their contribution is worthwhile. When you look at them when talking to them, they feel the conversation is two-ways and engaging. People don’t want to be talked to or talked down to. The want to be in conversation with you! Eye contact is critical for that kind of connection.

Employees want to know you care. They want to matter to the company and more importantly, to you. When you show compassion and care towards people, they feel validated and real. To know someone cares about you helps to grow the feeling of belonging and association. Looking at them puts you both in a place of vulnerability and can feel a bit awkward. Get comfortable with it. Vulnerability is something effective leaders embrace. Look into another’s eyes and really see them and feel all that is there.  

Employees want to know they can trust you. If you say something to them, employees want to sense you will keep your work. By looking them in the eye when you share information, establish routines or provide feedback, the employee feels your honesty and authenticity. Both are key parts of trusting relationships

Eye-contact is critical to developing passion for the work
By establishing and maintaining eye contact with your staff you create deeper more meaningful relationships. Employee's care and concern for the work they do grows as you demonstrate care and concern for them. The organizational culture will shift from apathy to passionate work!

QUESTION: Try increased eye contact in one conversation with an employee this week. What difference did it make in the engagement of that employee?