Look at the numbers below. 

6-8

10-12

8-4

What do they identify?

1. 6 to 8 are the number of hours of sleep you get per day or should be getting.
2. 10 to 12 are the number of hours invested in work, including travel time, and time for lunch.
3. 8 to 4 are the number of hours left over after you’ve done the other two, and the time left to do all the other things you want and need to do.  Notice that these decrease as the other two increase.  All the following activities and roles fall into this last set of numbers.
   • Spouse
   • Children
   • Friends
   • Hobbies
   • House and lawn maintenance
   • Etc.

The point is this. You spend more time at work than you do at home, waking hours, anyway. Here is one of the first things I want you think about. You spend a lot of time with your employees.  If you’re a frontline manager, you’re with your employees eight to nine hours a day including lunch.  If you are anyone other than the top person in your business, you are also an employee because you are reporting to another manager. You’re likely to be with him or her for 10 hours a day plus lunch.  

Wouldn’t it be great if you had fun during those hours?

If you’re spending that much time with your employees, I firmly believe that you have a responsibility to these employees that is beyond simply watching them punch a clock.  Your employees are valuable to your company. Your employees are looking to you for direction.  They spend eight to nine hours a day with you engaged in that activity.  Consequently, I believe we have a responsibility to them. I believe I have a responsibility to them to be aware of who they are, what their weaknesses are and what their strengths are. What are their passions? Are they married? Do they have children?  They’re looking to you for a realm of support.   If you have a hard time thinking about that, reverse the roles.  Think of you with the person you

report to and being with them for 10 hours a day. Do you value the fact, or would you value the fact, that they’re interested in what you do, what you say, the challenges you have, and the questions you have about the business?  If you had a challenging issue at home, would you appreciate an open ear if you just wanted to talk about it with somebody?  If you have earned that kind of confidence in you, you are very likely to get the question.

That’s a role that you have as a manager and leader. When you consider the number of hours a day that you spend with your employees, I believe fully that we, as managers and leaders, have a responsibility to care for these individuals.  That is one of the premises, that you assume a role greater than simply being concerned over the work they do. If you do, and we’re going to talk some more about this, you will reap huge rewards.  Keep in mind that we are managing how your employees see what you do. That’s one of the tasks and challenges that you have.

One of the outgrowths of caring for people is the fun that goes along with it.  Why is it fun?  Because we are built to be relationship people.  We have more to come on that topic!