The Song of Significance

Our job as leaders (as opposed to industrial managers) thus becomes clear. Instead of threats and scarcity, and instead of compliance and control, we have the opportunity to help people become significant. We can establish a foundation of safety and then build a culture of affiliation and status, where forward motion is a benefit in itself—even mor

“How do you feel about this client?” or “What led you to want to do it this way?” are great places to begin. Connection comes from the mutual understanding that these conversations can uncover. Genuine inquiry needs to follow.

Who is loud in meetings. Who gets in early or leaves late. Who made the fewest mistakes with their code or submitted a commit to GitHub first. These proxies, along with the usual human discrimination based on caste or gender, all lead to an ongoing and compounded series of errors.

teams doing significant work can create a culture where clarity, professionalism, and enrollment open the door to possibility. Forward motion is the way to significance. Significance requires trust, and trust comes from consistently keeping our promises.

Widget production is fairly straightforward to measure and increase. But those metrics (and methods) don’t work for human interactions, insight, or innovation.

Who needs to help me? Who needs my help? What is the risk—for us, for me, for the people we serve? What’s the timing of this project?

If you agree to look me in the eye and try to absorb the gist of what I’m saying, I agree to be crisp, cogent, and on point.

Instead of cheap labor to do the semiautomated tasks that machines can’t do (yet), organizations now seek two apparently scarce resources: creativity and humanity. Both skills involve dealing with other humans, creating strategies, and finding insights in a fast-moving world.

Significance isn’t what we get. . . . It’s what we do for others.