How well do you remember to treat your team members like individuals?

Our reader poll today asks: How well do you remember to treat your team members like the individuals they are?

• Very – I treat everyone like an individual.: 70.1%
• Mostly – sometimes I forget to treat them as individuals.: 27.9%
• Not very – I often treat them like cogs in a machine.: 0.8%%
• Not at all – I tend to treat them all the same.: 1.1%

No one wants to be a cog. The more you treat people like individuals, the more likely they are to commit to your leadership. One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is failing to understand this principle. It doesn’t take much to make someone feel like a cog in the machine. Common mistakes like referring to people by title or role rather than name can signal that you don’t see them as an individual. It’s these small daily behaviors that set the tone for how your people feel. Be aware of these habits and fix them if you find yourself making those mistakes. Diane, Kendall, Buddy, Elroy, and the rest of your team members will appreciate you knowing who they are as individuals.

Do you agree with these poll results? Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Did you enjoy this post?  If so, I highly encourage you to take about 30 seconds to become a regular subscriber to this blog.  It’s free, fun, practical, and only a few emails a week (I promise!).  SIGN UP HERE to get the thoughtLEADERS blog conveniently delivered right to your inbox!

These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 210,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.