Imagine your star co-worker / team member / direct report is at a family dinner this weekend.
A relative asks them, “So, how’s work going?”
What they say next is critical.
As a leader, that question can leave you warm and fuzzy, anticipating a glowing, 5-star review, or it can keep you up at night if you’re unsure what their answer might be.
Why?
Because their answer could be one of the most honest reads you will ever receive on the culture of the team / organization / your leadership.
The most powerful recruiting tool you have is not a job posting, a recruiter, or a LinkedIn Premium subscription. It’s technically not an NPS score either.
The most powerful recruiting tool you and your organization have is a team that is genuinely proud of what they do and who they do it with.
Top performers want to work alongside other top performers. When your people are fired up about their work, they talk about it. At dinner tables, at birthday parties, in text threads with old colleagues. They recruit for you without being asked, and they do it with a credibility no employer brand campaign can buy.
Pride is a signal. If your team members would not enthusiastically describe their work to the people they respect and ultimately would like respect from, that silence is telling you something important. It is a direct reflection of the organization’s culture, the leadership you’re delivering, and the opportunity their role delivers.
You cannot ask your team to be ambassadors if you have not given them something worth talking about. (Cue up Bonnie Raitt for those who sang that last line.)
Energy and attitudes are contagious.
An engaged leader builds an engaged team.
An engaged team builds itself.
So before you open that next job req, ask yourself this question: “Would my people brag about this job at a family dinner?” If the answer is anything less than a confident yes, that is your most urgent leadership priority today.
One last question:
What is one thing you are doing right now to make your team proud to be part of what you are building?
