Everyone wants to share in special.
Special promotes pride, confidence, and passion. When part of something special, team members are highly motivated to sustain that specialness through their hard work, innovation, and commitment.
Unfortunately, special doesn’t fall from the sky. It takes leaders to create something special for the benefit of everyone involved.
Being part of something bigger than yourself is always special. When the vision of an enterprise promises social change, personal wealth, or community success, people who are a part of executing the vision feel exceptional, as well.
But not every enterprise has a compelling vision or future. Many organizations create sustainable value but lack the long-range purpose to imprint special feelings.
Good leaders don’t need to rely on visions and long-term goals to create special. There are many other arenas for them to craft something noteworthy.
Teams of people can be special under the right leader. Leaders create special when they cobble together a group of highly talented members and then provide the collaborative foundation from which they can build trust, chemistry, and success. Even in organizations that are underperforming or with toxic cultures, the best leaders can create a heaven inside a hell.
While waiting for the team to gel, leaders can facilitate, broker, or design special experiences for people. The most special experiences are unique and hard to recreate. They grow or challenge people. From unique meetings to learning workshops, from off-sites to benchmarking exercises, the best leaders create special experiences for people so they know how important they are to the team.
Waiting for the next notable experience doesn’t prevent good leaders from creating distinctive and remarkable relationships with team members. By gaining a deep understanding of who people really are and creating the connections all people desire, leaders can forge thick relationships with team members that make them feel extra special.
Everyone wants to be a part of something special and to feel special in how they are treated. Leaders are in the driving seat to get this done if they are motivated to do so. This is onerous work. In fact, creating special often makes leaders themselves feel exceptional and energized.
As a leader, are you in the business of creating special? Read the fine print. It’s in the job description.
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
