[August 29, 2016] One of my first lessons in the effectiveness of leadership was when, as a U.S. Army Private (the lowest rank), my Platoon Leader Jimmy Madison approached me one day to say Happy Birthday. What a shock! My entire time in the military had been one humiliation after another and now I was getting a little kindness. Leaders remember the little things about their people and use that knowledge to let them know that they care.
Maybe things weren’t all that bad in the army after all, I thought to myself. Seven and a half years later when I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and had a platoon of my own, I remembered Lieutenant Madison and what he did to show his many army Privates that he cared about them. As an officer I did my best to remember the small things; although to our soldiers they may not be small things.
Before attending my first Dining Out1 with my soldiers and their spouses (or significant others), I obtained a list of spouse and children’s names and hometown for each of those in my platoon. I knew that I would be introduced to each spouse so I would say – before their name was told to me – “hello Audrey (or whatever their name was), a pleasure to meet you.” Everyone was always satisfyingly surprised to know that an officer actually knew their first name and other information about them.
Leaders do remember the small things. To me it was easy to obtain the information, record it in my Leader’s Book, and before I needed the data I would simply read through it. Later in my career, I had many more than a dozen or so to remember and it required some serious memorization but I always took the time to note the small things.
Here are some things that remembering the small things will do:
- It offers kindness and offers up a culture that encourages teamwork.
- It offers respect and shows that leaders value the worker and their family.
- It offers encouragement, especially to those who are under the most stress.
- It offers gratitude.
- It offers hope when things aren’t going well.
The results of showing that a leader knows some of the small things about people were positive. Each soldier believed, correctly, that I cared about them and their family. They were of course more receptive to the difficult tasks that I would give them and tolerate the difficulties they would have to endure in the army.
And it’s not just the small things. Leaders should be aware of major events in the lives of those that follow them; birth of a child, marriage, etc. The best leaders are always on the lookout for major events are should acknowledge them as well.
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- A Dining Out is a military formal affair that includes dinner and entertainment. Spouses or others are invited. Creating a greater camaraderie is the goal of a dining out and an event that one remembers often with fondness.