Great Leaders Value Everyone On Their Team

On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Ben's 31-year-old wife died after battling stage 4 lung cancer for four and a half years. The treatments weren't working in her last days, and the pain got worse by the minute. It was so painful watching someone you love so much having to endure that kind of suffering, and Ben was powerless to help in any way. Ben sat on a chair with his hands on his head, tears running down his face, trying to be strong for his two young children, thinking about a line or a sentence that could explain the death of their mother. 

The whole experience was so emotionally draining; Ben often wonder why this happened to my wife and my family by extension. But despite the challenges, his CEO and staff were very supportive. They took up his responsibilities, which allowed Ben to deal with his wife's illness full time. If Ben didn’t have that support from his team and CEO, God knows how he would make it. 

I read that story, and it reinforces my love for great leadership and their ability to connect with their employees professionally and personally. Inspirational leaders always reinforced the collective responsibility and go out of their way to ensure their team has the necessary support when needed. Many companies are void of this; I can remember reading an article where the author was sharing her story when her father died; she said after a week, her manager told her, “you need to get over this everyone dies” it’s truly amazing what some people have to endure.

The core foundational trait of any leader is empathy and their ability to place themselves in their employee's situations to feel what their people are feeling. It requires some serious soul searching and a change of thinking to practice empathy, which is still considered a "not so important trait" for many people responsible for managing and leading people.

Many people have grown accustomed to this type of environment where it's void of any employee support, especially in a time of unforeseen circumstances. They believe all companies are the same, and they have been brainwashed to think that work is this prison sentence waiting for bail every day at 4 or 5 p.m. when there are thousands of companies who put their employees first and really look out for their staff and their families. 

When Ben's wife died, he got overwhelming support from his company; in this type of environment, employees are valued, their turnover will be practically zero because the leaders who genuinely care about their employees have the most loyal employees in the world, and they will go hell and back for their leader.  

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About The Author

I am the founder of Leadership First and the author of The Inspirational Leader, Inspire Your Team To Believe In The Impossible. At Leadership First, Our 1.4M+ leaders worldwide trust Leadership First for their daily inspiration and motivation. Check out more by following the link below.

www.leadershipfirst.net