Ask someone how their weekend was

I’d like to continue from my theme from Friday: Don’t email your people this weekend.

Did you pull this off? Could you resist the temptation?

If you did, good! Good leader, good manager! Now take this a step further. Spend thirty minutes today (Monday) investigating the good times some of your people had this weekend. Find out about the big game, the movie and the picnic. Soak it up like Oprah. Be sincerely interested.

You’ll see three direct results from this half hour investment:
1. You’ll realize that your people have a life outside of work.
2. They will relish their weekend and extend its medicinal benefit as a result.
3. You will likely find that you a great deal in common with the people you see every day.

To paraphrase Dale Carnegie: “You will accomplish more in 2 months developing a sincere interest in 2 people, than you’ll accomplish in the next 2 years, trying to get 2 people interested in you.”