Leadership Lessons from a Grandmother’s Love

Oct 30

Hand drawn illustration of two cell phones with conversation from grandson

For the past year our two-year old grandson Liam has been having a weekly sleepover at our place. I just discovered that after Lynda drops Liam at preschool in the morning, she sends a text to his parents - and she does so as if Liam is sending the message.

Before you read Liam's text, one thing you need to understand is that Lynda’s gramma name is "Me". Yes, it is very confusing and we blame that on our oldest grandson, Max who coined the name Me.

Anyhow, here is Liam's most recent message to his Mom and Dad,

"Hi Guys, Me had a great night with me. She thinks I am a silly goose 🪿.
Great morning, I ate 2 pancakes & fruit, watched some Paw Patrols & then off to school. I have a new blue Mickey shirt on. I really like it. It feels soft.
Me asked me for a birthday kiss when she carried me in to school & then I started singing her happy birthday. I am pretty sure her heart melted.
And because it was her birthday I gave her the bestest biggest gift 💝.
And when she dropped me off, I didn't cry. She took me in with my friends and I just started playing with them. I know Me was pretty pumped about that. See you soon. Love yah ❤️💕❤️💕"

Here’s the thing, Lynda is very intentional in deciding what to do, what not to do, and curates her time with Liam so at the end of it all, "he" can write a text like the one above. Make no mistake, she is not trying to manipulate the boy, it is genuine. She builds the time with him around what she knows is important to Liam.

So for you, if for every employee you interacted with today, you were to write a text to their kids or spouse as if it was them writing it in first person, what would the texts look like ?

What can you start doing tomorrow to improve the imaginary messages you send on behalf of your employees ?

And of course, this extends to how you treat suppliers, clients, co-workers, everyone for that matter.