I saw “How to Be an Effective Leader While Under Pressure With David Arrington” on the Negotiate Anything podcast popup in my feed while I was catching up on my podcasts from the holidays Kwame’s podcast typically makes my must-listen list, because his conversations are full of helpful conversation tips and negotiation skills. Near the end of the podcast David Arrington makes a comment about leadership that resounds with me after my 2020:

“You have these folks that say I’m not a motivator, I’m not a nurturer. Then I’m going to say, you’re not a leader. I’m going to say you’re a manager. You help people get places. You’re not leading them anywhere though. They are doing a job for you. They are not working with you.”

David’s comment stood out to me because I’ve worked with several managers, leaders, and team leads, who didn’t take into account the emotional and nurturing part of their positions, nor were several concerned about helping people get places – they were only concerned about getting themselves somewhere.

I’ll be the first to say leading, motivating, or nurturing are life long skills requiring constant improvement and attention. I’ve been working on improving these skills for quite some time, and it’s been a long journey where I’m constantly learning more about myself and how I can help others better. I didn’t realize how much the nurturing and motivation part of leading was until 2020 when I got to work with an amazing person who showed me what a huge difference adding that side of leadership and life to work. They show me how much better work and life can be with a little more compassion added to everything.

I feel adding more compassion and nurturing to the job space would have a huge impact on how people show up to work, and how they contribute to their work.