Treat the disease impersonally, care for the patient personally.

I heard this the other day and although it applies to medicine I think there is a lesson for leaders here. As we have said before, the number one determinant of leader effectiveness is the quality of the relationship between leader and led. If you deal with people impersonally you can’t have a good relationship with them and you will not be successful.

Chapter five of No Yelling is “Take Care of People.” It doesn’t say we are their buddy or their pal. It does say we must look at them as people, as individuals with unique circumstances. To do less is to say they don’t matter and we all know people are our most important asset.

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