Leaving a Responsive Legacy

Think back to what I shared as we started this look at the art of responsiveness, specifically from Dan Pink’s book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, where he shared:

“Email response time is the single best predictor of whether employees are satisfied with their boss, according to research by Duncan Watts, a Columbia University sociologist who is now a principal researcher for Microsoft Research. The longer it takes for a boss to respond to their emails, the less satisfied people are with their leader.”

Both the friends I mentioned in the examples that followed were extremely responsive; not just to the clients they served, but to everyone they interacted with. Those friends parting ways with organizations where executives held teams to an expectation they weren’t willing to live up to themselves should come as no surprise. Be honest, how long are you willing to deal with someone who isn’t responsive to your outreach; a boss, a service provider, or even someone you’re looking to for mentorship? I realized my highly DRIVEN behavioral style is a bit less patient than most folks, but unresponsiveness speaks more of not being valued regardless how much patience even the most SUPPORT person can muster.

Here’s the kicker with each of the organizations my friends left: nearly everyone we’ve interacted with in each since do not practice responsive habits. I’ll repeat this once more for emphasis… I’m intentionally not sharing more about either because this is definitely not limited to those two companies. I can’t point to a business that I’ve dealt with over the last thirty years where the folks dealing directly with the public weren’t responsive but the executives were, at least not over the long haul. I’ve certainly seen exceptions, some where individuals were slow to respond but the leaders stayed on top of things and some where you could count on an immediate response from the frontline team member but rarely heard back from the executive. In either case, the mismatches were short lived. People do what people see. Like begets like. Call it what you want, everything always rises and falls on leadership.

To earn lasting influence with our teams, especially to a point where they can trust us to make quick decisions in the toughest situations, they’ll need to know they’re cared for. And when they feel cared for, that care carries over to what their customer experiences - even if that customer is the next team member downstream.

Throughout this look at leveraging leadership growth, we’ve wrapped up each segment with a reference to trust, legacy, or a combination of the two. The same holds true here. By listening intently so we can adapt to our team’s needs and provide the correct response quickly, we’re making a sound investment into those relationships. Through responsive relationships, any mentorship offered is more likely to be welcomed - regardless of which side of the equation we’re on. As we build habits to sustain this level of responsiveness, even if that initially requires us to create systems to support those new behaviors, we provide an example for everyone we interact with; one that leaves a responsive legacy and inspires future leaders. I’ve certainly experienced this in my life, and I’ll bet you have too. We’ll never invest the time necessary for any of this, though, unless we genuinely value others and we’re dedicated to being available. We’ll work through that next. Until then, I’ll challenge you to consider any scenarios where you’ve dropped the ball or left someone hanging. How can you respond to that past request with renewed effort?