Next Generation | Inspire and motivate your team by learning about pro-social leadership

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak at the Management Today Leadership Lessons conference on the Next Generation of Leadership.

And if your reading of this article has just been interrupted by an email or telephone call from your manager…then lucky you.

Through every interaction with, or communication from, your manager, an exchange is occurring, you are receiving something; an anchor, a mooring, an affirmation.

You are receiving attention, at a time of attention scarcity.

The inherent nature of attention means that when your manager is interacting with you, they are, for that moment, ignoring other things. That’s good - on a simple level this makes us feel like we possess value and utility that our manager can’t derive from elsewhere. This feeling is psychologically satiating, as humans we need this, our morale, engagement, sense of security, safety and belonging within our team – and the company we work for – dips drastically if we don’t get enough of this. More specifically, a lack of attention can lead to a feeling of exclusion, also known as the single greatest stressor a human being can experience. Not grief, not loss, not anger, exclusion.