People Work Is the Real Work
Effective leadership is about so much more than the results you produce. People look to you for guidance, inspiration, stability, and support.
They want to learn from you and collaborate with you to solve complex problems, especially if you are in the business of leading knowledge workers.
But how can we provide the leadership people want when we are so busy juggling all of our priorities?
How can we find time to focus on the people stuff when there is so much work to be done?
That’s what I want to get into in this issue of The Subtle Shift.
The Challenge of the Week
When many leaders come to work with me, they think working on the people stuff will require a ton of effort.
They are tired of all the drama and begin to believe that people issues are a waste of time.
Take my client, George, for example (name changed to protect his identity).
Earlier in his career, George was a dynamic leader with a reputation for being great with people. He cared about teamwork and leadership and worked hard to build a strong team. But as time passed, all the people issues began to weigh on him. Personality conflicts, communication issues, difficult conversations, and many other problems started consuming too much of his time and energy, and George’s performance began to slip.
The Truth About “People Stuff”
Like George, many leaders start to see “people stuff” as a drain on their productivity—problems that feel like they keep them from the real work. But here’s the truth: the “people stuff” is the real work. It’s the foundation that supports everything else you do. When you ignore it, it doesn’t just go away; it festers and creates more significant challenges downstream.
George and I didn’t overhaul his leadership approach overnight. Instead, we focused on small, subtle shifts that changed how he interacted with his team. The results were profound, but they didn’t require George to add more hours to his day or turn into a therapist for his team.
Three Subtle Shifts to Make Today
Shift Your Attention: Start by paying more attention to your team’s needs during everyday interactions. Small actions like truly listening during meetings or asking open-ended follow-up questions can make your team feel heard and valued. Here are a few questions you can ask:
Can you tell me more about what’s behind your thoughts on this?
What support or resources would help you feel more confident moving forward?
How do you see this impacting our team, and what solutions do you think would work best?
Shift Your Assumptions: Let go of the belief that people issues are a distraction. Instead, see them as opportunities to strengthen your team. Conflict isn’t just a problem; it signals that something needs attention. It is also an opportunity to learn and grow as a team. If you feel that people issues are a distraction, reflect on the following:
How would you feel if someone thought you were a distraction?
What is the opportunity that exists on the other side of this distraction?
What can we learn from this?
Shift Your Actions: Take small, consistent steps toward better communication. You don’t need to solve every problem immediately. Sometimes, just acknowledging an issue and committing to address it is enough to shift the dynamic. Here are two subtle shifts in communication that can dramatically change the dialog:
Make explicit requests - “Can you produce three widgets by Thursday at 3:00 and let me know when they are completed?”
Ask for clear commitments - “What exactly are you committing to and when will you complete that?”
The Payoff
After implementing these subtle shifts, George found that his team began resolving more conflicts independently, communicating more openly, and engaging more deeply in their work. The best part? George didn’t feel like he was constantly putting out fires. Instead, he had more time and energy to focus on strategic priorities and became the kind ofleader people truly wanted to follow.
Conclusion
Leadership isn’t about avoiding the “people stuff” but embracing it as the real work that drives success. You can transform how you lead by making subtle shifts in your attention, assumptions, and actions without adding more to your plate. Start with small changes, listen more closely, and see conflict as an opportunity, not a distraction. You’ll find that these simple adjustments can significantly impact your team’s performance and effectiveness as a leader.
