When Ana and Tom returned to the training room, Theo was laughing with a white-haired man. The newcomer must have been in his late seventies, but he still had the ramrod-straight bearing of a marine.
“Ana, Tom, welcome back!” Theo called. “We won the lottery today. This is Lou Herbert, our former CEO. He’ll be joining us for the afternoon.”
“Hello, Ana. Hello, Tom,” Lou said. “Theo has just been telling me how much he’s enjoyed spending time with you both. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
You couldn’t hide from Lou’s eyes, Tom thought. But somehow, you also didn’t need to. It was like a searchlight that left you warm instead of exposed.
“What are you doing here?” Ana asked. Then her face flushed. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
Lou had a well-worn smile that his entire face took part in. “I come in every so often to see how things are going. Keeps me out of trouble.”
“Lou is being characteristically modest,” Theo said. “He’s on our board, and his experience is invaluable. Many of our biggest customers have stayed with us for decades because of him.”
“You are pretty famous around here, Lou. And at my old job too,” Tom noted.
“Well, if I’ve earned any sort of recognition,” Lou responded dryly, “it’s probably a ‘most improved’ award; I’ve had plenty to learn and relearn.
“I have to admit, though, I envy you two having access to Theo and having time set aside to explore all of this. Poor Kate had to help me bumble through things as we went.”
“You two blazed a good trail!” Theo said. “I could tell this company was different after my second time meeting you, Lou. Remember?”
“You’ll have to remind me, I’m afraid.”
Theo turned to Ana and Tom. “I came to Zagrum sixteen years ago. I had left the law firm to become general counsel and then COO of a company that Zagrum acquired. Not too different from your story, Ana. And because I knew a lot about the intellectual property acquisitions, I joined the executive team.”
Lou nodded. “That’s right.”
“In our first meeting, I was given several difficult assignments to complete before the next meeting, two weeks later. It was a heavy load at any time, but especially given the circumstances. My family had relocated for the job, and there were plenty of stressors with that transition. The night before our meeting, I had one task left, but I was exhausted, and it seemed minor, so I let it go.
“As I reported on my progress the next day, I focused on all I’d done and the unexpected challenges that had arisen and casually mentioned the task I hadn’t gotten to. This ringing any bells, Lou?”
“Not remotely, no.”
“Well, Lou was leading the meeting, and without any fanfare, he asked Kate to take the assignment I had left undone. The meeting continued with other reports, and I noticed that no one else had left a task unfinished.
“I felt embarrassed and small and couldn’t wait to get out of the room to lick my wounds. But Lou caught me before I could slip out and asked if he could walk me to my office. He was about the last person I wanted to see right then.”
Lou chuckled.
“But I wasn’t going to turn down my new boss, the man who had taken a mediocre company and made it into an industry powerhouse. And along the way, Lou got me talking about the move and how my family was adjusting.”
“Ah,” Lou said. “Tracie had a hard time being farther away from her parents, I believe.”
“That’s right,” Theo said to Tom and Ana. “Lou even called our home and spoke to Tracie later that night just to see if there was any way he could help. It meant a lot to her.
“When we got to my office, Lou put a hand on my shoulder and looked right in my eyes. ‘Theo,’ he said, ‘I want to talk to you about that assignment. I know you are working hard, and you’re doing good work. I hope you know that.’
“‘But, when you take on an assignment, not following through has a ripple effect. People are depending on you delivering what you committed to do. If you know that you aren’t going to be able to keep a commitment, reach out, ask for help, let people know. We need you to be thinking about your impact on others.’”
“How’d you take it?” Ana wondered.
“Somehow I wasn’t offended or defensive. I was inspired. I found myself thanking him for talking to me.”
“I’ve never been known to beat around the bush,” Lou confessed.
“So what’s the secret, Theo?” Ana asked. “Why did that approach work? Is it because he led with some compliments?”
Theo smiled. “I’ve thought about that. It wasn’t because of anything he said, Ana. There wasn’t a strategy. It’s not a formula. It worked because I could feel that Lou was really honest with me because he saw me as a person and wanted me to succeed.
“How a leader sees others is more important than anything they do or say. In fact, the success or failure of any given leadership technique hinges on understanding that every behavior can be done in two ways—inwardly, with a focus on ourselves and the way others impact us, or outwardly, caring about others and our impact on them.
“People can tell if we’re inward and seeing them as objects instead of people. No matter how much someone tries to fake it, you’ll eventually know how they see you. If Lou had been pretending to care about me and my family, even if he had asked the exact same questions, I’m certain it would’ve come through.”
“I had a coworker once,” Tom said, “who would often give compliments, but it didn’t feel genuine. It was like they had some personal agenda under the surface.”
“That’s the feeling,” Theo said. “People can say or do all the ‘right’ things, but the place it comes from makes all the difference. And by the same token, someone could be unpolished and imperfect at offering feedback and still have it land well because you can tell that they care about you.”
“Like your experience with Lou,” Ana said.
“Yes,” Theo said. “Exactly.”
“Kate pulled me aside yesterday,” Tom said, “and talked to me pretty directly. But I could tell that it was because she really wants me to succeed. As uncomfortable as it was, I am so grateful she did that.”
“I have learned a lot from Kate,” Lou said. “She really sees people.”
Theo nodded. “It’s a big reason she’s such a successful leader. When we’re outward, people know it.
“But having an outward mindset doesn’t mean overlooking others’ shortcomings. Lou didn’t let me off the hook for dropping my assignment, but he also didn’t reduce me to being my mistake. I was inspired to be better because Lou and I both knew I could be.
“It would’ve been easy for me to call someone else on the executive team and ask for help to get that last job done or to ask which of my tasks were most urgent if I wasn’t able to do them all. Instead, I didn’t ask for help or give anyone a heads-up, and then I justified my choice. The way that Lou saw me made it easy for me to own that mistake.”
“And since then,” Lou added, “we’ve done a better job at helping people know what exactly they’re responsible for, who is relying on them, and how it all connects to the success of the company. Right, Theo?”
“Absolutely,” Theo said. “We’ve become much more intentional about clarifying job expectations and showing people the interconnectedness of our operations. That has been critical in helping Zagrum thrive. People ought to know why their work matters and who it impacts.”
“I’m still impressed by how you knew what to say to Theo, Lou,” Ana said. “And I’ve heard other stories where you seemed to know if someone needed discipline or encouragement and how to offer it. How did you become the kind of leader who can sense that sort of thing?”
Lou rubbed his weathered cheek and took a deep breath. “I had to really change the way I saw others. I nearly lost everything I love.”