Thanks for Not Attending My Meeting
June 25, 2009
A manager earns the respect of his employees and makes them more productive simply by commending an employee for putting his family first.
We hear a lot of talk these days about “balance” and how to make sure that we take time to have a personal life without becoming too caught up in our work. Unfortunately, in many companies, the people who get promoted and recognized are the ones who put in the 90-hour weeks.
I presented a program for a company in North Carolina a few weeks ago. To kick off the meeting, the vice president in charge of the group made some introductory comments. He talked about the progress the team had made in the last six months. He pointed out some of the roadblocks they were still facing. He singled out several employees for the significant contributions they had made throughout the year.
Then he recognized a person who wasn’t present.
“You’ll notice that Mike isn’t here today. He had a family matter to attend to that was more important than this meeting. This is an extremely important session we’re holding today, but anyone in this room would have made the same decision.”
“While we’ll miss Mike’s participation today, he made the right choice, and he’s to be commended for being with his family and not at this meeting.”
I was sitting in the corner of the room, out of sight, but I’m sure the look on my face was one of astonishment. To me, this was incredible. I had never heard a manager publicly praise an employee for choosing family over a critical work activity.
His comments, of course, were the perfect kick off to the program. The teams were energized by his message and they had an outstanding and productive session.
Too many times, we see a set of core values posted on the walls, but the actions of our leaders communicate a different set of values altogether. If you claim that a balance between work and home is important in your organization, then make sure that you recognize the person who takes you up on that claim.
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