Nobody Cares As Much As I Do: Employee Engagement Myth #2

It may be true that nobody cares about the things you care about as much as you do. But it's not true (or fair, or helpful) to think that nobody cares as much as you.

They care about different things, things that matter to them, things that inspire and move them. Your job is to get the things you care about and the things they care about to match up in a way where everybody wins. So what are the things that employees care about?

What if, in the larger sense, they are the exact same things you care about: creative freedom, personal meaning, doing work they love, and making enough money to support their families? Does that sound like anyone you know?

As we look across the manager/employee divide, it's easy to see the other person as being made of different stuff than we are. They're not. They're just at a different stage, have a different appetite for risk, perhaps. And for whatever reason, they've decided to hitch their meaning wagon to yours.

It's your responsibility to discover just how much they care, in ways and about things that you don't. Talk about a win/win scenario.