Walk together rather than follow me

Peter Watson recalls a time when he was CEO of Transfield Services when they were entering the market in Canada. Peter worried that the people who made the move to Canada might feel a long way from home and disconnected. Many of them had young families, and he knew they would experience a major disruption in their lives.

As they headed off, Peter’s team gave each of them a compass with the message, ‘You are a pioneer of Transfield Services, but we don’t want you to get lost. We hope you find your way home sometime.’ 🧭

The employees and their partners appreciated the sentiment behind the gift, knowing the leaders of the company valued them and were concerned about them. Peter knew many people worried the company might forget them once they were overseas. He was determined to make sure that did not happen. They transitioned people back successfully.

Peter’s concern for people came from a simple set of values they practised from the early days when the business was first formed:

✅ Do what’s right.

✅ Lead the way.

✅ Care for one another.

✅ Take responsibility.

These values came from Peter’s basic assumption that they would achieve bigger and better results if his employees walked together rather than blindly following him. Peter says to this day people acknowledge the personal and professional growth they experienced while sharing those values and walking together with the company.

Solid support for Peter’s approach is provided by a study published in an HBR article, ‘The Most Important Leadership Competencies, According to Leaders Around the World’, by Dr Sunnie Giles 홍선경.

‘When leaders show a commitment to our growth,’ Dr Giles observes ‘. . . employees are motivated to reciprocate, expressing their gratitude or loyalty by going the extra mile. If you want to inspire the best from your team, advocate for them, support their training and promotion, and go to bat to sponsor their important projects.’

These leadership insights from Peter Watson are outlined in more detail in the new book, which Dean Phelan and I co-authored – The Gentle Art of Leadership.

The perspectives we gathered from our interviews with 50+ leaders like Peter from around the globe and the original research we drew on, form the basis of the book.

🙋 In your experience, how have leaders supported or encouraged people that helped them grow or take on new challenges? 🙋‍♀️

Best regards, Brian