Blue Collar Leadership - Part 2 - Value Your Employees Concerns...It's A Big Deal To Them.

John 2: 3-5
And when they ran out of wine the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have not wine."  Jesus said to her, Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."His mother said to the servants.  "Whatever he tells you, you must do it."


I think there are several leadership lessons that we can learn from this.  I believe that there is a lesson to be learned from both Jesus' mother Mary and Jesus.

First let's look at Jesus.

The Story
Obviously Jesus did not feel this was an important concern as he question his mother about it.  By the way, woman is how the language translates over to english.  It is not a sign of disrespect like it sounds.  Jesus respected his mother very much.  However, when he sees the true concern of his mother, he follows through and helps her out.

Leadership
As a leader, we need to listen to our employees or followers.  Sometimes they have concerns that we do not value.  However, if you see that they are truly concerned, you need to address it and treat it as a concern of yours too.  This does not mean fulfilling every wish of every employee or follower, but it does mean to treat their concern with importance and consideration.  What is important to them may not be important to you.

Here is a Bible verse that conveys the point to take an interest in others.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. ~Philippians 2:4 NKJV

Here is a quote of a motivated employee.

An Employee's motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager. ~Bob Nelson

It Always Serious In The Moment
Let's look at a child.  They come to the parent with a concern that they believe to be very important in their life at that point and time.  However, the parent has already been through that experience and realizes that it is really no big deal.  Therefore, the parent treats the issue with little concern and makes the child feel like the parent does not care about their problems.  If you stop and think back, most of our problems in the past do not seem as serious as they did in the moment.  Think of a problem that you are having right now.  It seems real and serious to you doesn't it.  Well, every problem you've had throughout your life has been serious in the moment.  Just remember that when a child or employee comes to you the next time with an issue that they are facing.....it's a big deal to them.

This Is A Big One In Business
According to an article in Forbe.com,  the reason most employees quit their jobs is not due to money.  The number one reason is because they do not feel appreciated.  Or by feeling that the manager or co-workers do not value their opinions, concerns or suggestions.  Therefore, work on this lesson to improve employee retention.

Lesson Learned
1. Value others opinions, concerns and suggestions.  Even if it does not seem significant to you; listening to them may make a big difference to them.  If you get this one right, you'll eliminate the main reason most people quit their jobs.