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Introduction

In a New York Times interview, Charles Schwab CEO, Walt Bettinger, was asked what he learned in college. He chose to share one particular life changing experience that had a huge impact on him as both a businessman and leader.

Bettinger was a senior and preparing for the final exam in his business strategy class. At the time he had a 4.0 grade point average and had every intention of keeping that intact until graduation. He spent hours reviewing, studying, and memorizing formulas so that he could successfully do the calculations for the exam case studies.

As the teacher passed out the test, Bettinger noticed that it was on only one piece of paper. That surprised him because he thought surely it would be longer than that.

Once all students had received their exam, they were instructed to turn it over. Another surprise: both sides of the exam were blank. The professor said, “I've taught you everything I can teach you about business in the last 10 weeks, but the most important message, the most important question, is this: What's the name of the lady who cleans this building?”

Bettinger said, “…that had a powerful impact. It was the only test I ever failed, and I got the ‘B’ I deserved. Her name was Dottie, and I didn't know Dottie. I'd seen her, but I'd never taken the time to ask her name. I've tried to know every Dottie I've worked with ever since. It was a great reminder of what really matters in life, and that you should never lose sight of the people who do the real work.”¹

The title of this book—Do You Care to Lead?—is about two questions. First, do you really care about leading? Second, do you really care about the people you lead? They are two questions that every leader needs to ask, because if you don't want to lead, it will be next to impossible for you to really care about those you lead. And if you don't care about those you lead, then you probably shouldn't be leading.

This book is about becoming a Care to Lead Leader. It's about putting caring in the front seat of your leadership, where it belongs.

Care to Lead Leaders not only know Dottie's name but also her work‐related hopes, aspirations, and challenges, and they humbly express appreciation for what she does for everyone, many of whom fail to appreciate her. Care to Lead Leaders are a unique breed of truly selfless, thoughtful, and caring leaders. Leadership is not about them; it was never about them. It is about the people whom they lead and work with, and whom they deeply care about.

During World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became the 34th president of the United States, was known to regularly walk among the troops. One day he noticed a younger soldier who was quiet and seemed down a bit.

He asked, “How are you feeling, son?”

“General,” he said, “I'm awfully nervous. I was wounded two months ago, and just got back from the hospital yesterday. I don't feel so good.”

Eisenhower said, “You and I are a great pair, then, because I'm nervous too… Maybe if we just walk along together to the river, we'll be good for each other.”²

General Eisenhower was part of the Care to Lead Leader breed. He served this young soldier when the opportunity was presented. He opened up (vulnerability) in hopes that this young man would trust him. He was focused on nurturing and inspiring by walking with him. And he was committed to leading with his heart and those he led knew he cared. Each of these principles is at the core of the Care to Lead Leader Formula.

More people than ever are hungering for this type of leadership, but many leaders are missing the mark. In a Gallup survey, when employees were asked whether their supervisor or anyone else at work cared about them, only 4 out of 10 strongly agreed with that statement.³ That lack of caring is startling. Although many leaders might say they care by speaking it with their lips, unfortunately they are far from caring with their heart.

When practiced, Care to Lead Leadership makes a significant difference in people's work life and the companies they work for. Studies show that employees who felt they were part of a loving and caring culture at work reported higher levels of satisfaction and teamwork compared to those that didn't.⁴ And statements such as “Management shows a sincere interest in me as a person, not just an employee” is an important differentiator between companies making the top 10 in Fortune's top 100 annual Best Companies to Work For list and the other 90 that didn't.⁵ Caring about people matters.

If employees desire to be cared more about and leaders and organizations can benefit from caring more, but only 4 in 10 feel they are actually cared about, what are leaders missing? They are missing the right focus in most cases. In a survey conducted by Economist.com; C‐suite executives most frequently stated that technology and finance were the two areas that they most wanted to improve. However, when lower‐ranking employees were asked what skills they wished their top executives would get better at, they most often answered leadership and emotional intelligence.⁶ Executives were not anywhere near the same page in how they responded. What leaders think they need isn't what those they lead want and need from them. Although technology and finance are important, they aren't as important as the people you lead. Business is about the people who do the business. If you fail to care about those you lead, those you lead will eventually fail to care about results and also eventually fail to be loyal to you, your team, and the organization.

Unfortunately, too many “leaders” are stuck in the old styles of leadership: a top‐down approach with little care and value placed on the people “below.” Such leaders are concerned only about themselves. I have had such leaders in my life and have consulted with some. Perhaps you have had a leader or two like this in your career. They lead by fear more than with their heart. Many tend to anger easy, throw their fists down, make demands, talk tough, are generally negative, and seem to always be upset about something. Their only open‐door policy is to shut the door if someone sees it open. Those they manage as a result go out of their way trying to avoid them and do just enough to stay out of trouble. And when they have an opportunity, most of these people being managed by such leaders leave the second they have a chance.

I have also had my share of “leaders” and consulted with many more who, although not necessarily focused on creating fear, were more focused on numbers and processes rather than people. These types of leaders tended to listen less. They lacked a vision for their team(s), there was little connection, and there was unfortunately a lot of apathy. Those being led by these types of leaders simply checked out.

***

Care to Lead Leaders take people on rocket rides. Managers, such as those previously described, take their people on subway rides. Subways are boring, predictable, and uninspiring. You will be hard‐pressed to find people who smile on subway rides. It's the same thing, to the same place, every day. It takes very little coaxing to get people to board them because, similar to robots, they simply do what they are told or what they always do, day in and day out. It's easy to get people from destination A to B, but they never really get from C through Z. People just don't care much about the destination; they are more focused on just getting things done, doing barely enough to collect a paycheck and then going home.

Care to Lead Leaders know that rocket rides are a lot more exciting and inspiring, and the results are so much more impactful to teams, organizations, and the lives of the people they lead. Rockets get people to places they have never been before and those who take the ride get to do things they have never done before. People in rockets stay inspired, achieve much more, and never want to get off the ride—they are loyal through and through. Care to Lead Leaders understand that the best way to get people on rockets is to show the way and then get out of the way. They lead from the bottom‐up, not top‐down. They aren't micromanagers; they deeply care enough to do exactly what they need to do to inspire people to become everything they are capable of becoming and everything and more that their teams and organizations need them to become.

Most people want to be a part of something bigger, challenging, and exciting. They want to go to places they never believed they could or would. And every leader has an important responsibility to those they lead and the organizations and companies they belong to to get them there.

This book is about giving you the right formula for getting those you lead to take rocket rides. The time has arrived for you to become a Care to Lead Leader—that's how people board rockets. That's how leaders generate fiercely loyal and results‐focused teams. Becoming a Care to Lead Leader is going to forever change you, your teams, and organizations, but you must be willing to learn and carefully follow and apply the five‐part SONIC formula of Serve, Open (up), Nurture, Inspire, and Commit. The following chapters are focused on showing you how.

Notes

1 1 Adam Bryant, “You've Got to Open Up to Move Up,” New York Times, February 6, 2016, BU 2.

2 2 John Wukovits, Eisenhower: A Biography (Great Generals) (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Trade, 2006), 157.

3 3 Gallup, State of the American Workplace (Washington, DC: Gallup Inc., 2017), 108.

4 4 Sigal G. Barsade and Olivia A. O'Neill, “What's Love Got to Do with It? A Longitudinal Study of the Culture of Companionate Love and Employee and Client Outcomes in a Long‐Term Care Setting,” Administrative Science Quarterly 59, no. 4 (December 2014): 551–98, doi:10.1177/0001839214538636.

5 5 Jason Slusher, “Corporate Culture: Love Is All You Need,” Great Place to Work, February 14, 2017, https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/corporate-culture-love-is-all-you-need.

6 6 Natalie Baker, “Your Employees Wish You Were Emotionally Intelligent,” The Economist, n.d., https://execed.economist.com/blog/industry-trends/your-employees-wish-you-were-emotionally-intelligent.