Great Leadership Touches Everybody

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to consult with a corporate client on building the team's culture.

The group has been together for some time. They're generally comfortable with one another and understand each other's tendencies - but they aren't performing at the highest level.

The first night I visited them, the team and I went out to dinner.

You can learn a lot about how a team operates and functions by the way it organizes itself around a table at a meal. You can see who sits closer together and who sits further apart; who deliberately moves to be next to someone or moves to be further away. It gives special insight into how the group is organized and where the power sits.

When we arrived, the head of the team sat at one end of the table - a spot that had been specially reserved for the, in between two other high-ranking team members. There was a second spot left open for the second in command directly to their right.

The rest of the group filled in, mostly at the other end of the table. It was interesting to see how disconnected the group felt from the cluster on the other side - so much so that they left real physical space in between clusters.

The second in command is known for their ability to connect. They've got a relationship with everybody, and the team generally feels comfortable with them. It was like the group was waiting for their arrival.

About 20-30 minutes after the dinner started, this person walked in. And what happened next was pretty remarkable.

Rather than sit down and start eating, they walked around the entire table and fist-bumped every single person, said hello, asked how they were doing, and made a comment unique to them.

This one move changed the entire dynamic of the dinner.

People turned toward the center. The energy shot up. The group started engaging the full length of the table. What was once an awkward, somewhat silent meal with faces buried in plates became a 3-hour+ event with wide-ranging discussions, from the current function of the business to the latest Netflix shows people had been watching.

The simplest lesson came from this meal.

Great leadership touches everybody.

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