David Maister’s December 6, 2006 post shines a bright light on the value of caring when it comes to leadership. He quotes Craig Weatherup, former Chairman and CEO of The Pepsi Bottling Group:
“People trusted me, he said, because they knew me. They knew I cared about them. You can’t fake that, he said. That’s what gave me the power to lead.”
Reading Maister’s post I immediately thought of a senior associate at a big Canadian firm who I had dinner with this week. She’s quiet, soft spoken, and a highly sought after deal maker.She described to me her approach to legal work, caring about her clients. Connecting with her clients. Listening to her clients. She doesn’t network much, nor take her clients to hockey games, instead, her caring and authentic approach (and hard work!) earns her their trust and, no surprise, the deals flood in.
Naturally she is a skilled mentor too.
We all have our own personal style when it comes to marketing and business development but it is our values that make up the hard foundation that our professional careers are built upon.
Fake it and you will never make it.
