Veronica’s Seeds of Wisdom: Being an open-minded leader is key to retention

A few weeks ago, Erica Lockwood, Managing Director with Joseph Chris Partners, now based out of Dallas, traveled to the corporate office in Houston to interact with team members and have our monthly Managing Director meeting.  She stayed at my house while she was in town.  As some of you may know, I have a passion for gardening and Erica is an expert at plants and gardening (and recruiting, and sales, and marketing, and just being amazing!).  She had a very large garden, ten times my size, for many, many years. Some might have even called it a farm! In addition to all the great stuff Erica grew, she raised animals, too. Ask her about her baby goats and the sweaters she used to knit for them sometime. Even though she’s a city girl now, Erica will always be a farm girl at heart. 

I saved my cucumbers from my garden so that during Erica’s visit, she could teach me how to can them to make pickles.  From our 20-plus years of working together, I learned that she was an expert at canning, and I trusted her.  She also was excited to teach me something that I didn’t already know how to do. She knew her process was proven, and she also knew if I listened to her advice, it would yield the perfect pickle! Although at times it is difficult for me to keep my mouth shut and follow other people’s leads, I listened and trusted her to teach me how to do it right.

Guess what?  It worked out perfectly.  Even though she was so tired from such a long day at the office, she had very “shiny eyes” to share her knowledge with me.  I now have cucumbers that are pickled tastefully, and Erica felt valued as I trusted her expertise and appreciated that I gave up control and just listened.  Sure, I may have asked questions, but I was honestly trying to learn from her years of experience.  And the bonus was I did not have to manage anything. I just had to follow Erica’s recipe!  Amazingly freeing for someone who spends almost all of my time in control!

I know it can be hard to let go and trust someone else’s expertise and direction, but it is key to the success of a team.  Success is measured differently in every company, but it should nver be just about producing results. Giving your team real opportunities to share their expertise, contribute to your company’s goals, and be valued will lead to a healthy culture and build future leaders in your organization. 

Sometimes we must let go of our own need to control and remind ourselves that others have value to add. The more you empower them to share, lead and teach, the more they will appreciate working under your leadership.  If they appreciate working with you to achieve common goals, they’ll be more satisfied with their role, they’ll feel like their contributions matter, and they’ll grow and develop their own leadership skills. Employees are far more likely to stay with a company when they receive intangible benefits like these. And your company will only benefit from the different perspectives, unique insight, and creative solutions offered by everyone.

It also frees you up to focus on other things, like growing the best cucumbers and canning the perfect pickles!