I was a nobody in my MBA class. A bit of a clown at the back.
Or that’s what I thought, until our graduation ceremony rolled around.
My approach to life is to have fun, to enjoy myself, make people smile and bring a little bit of happiness to wherever I go.
It’s why I’ve always been the bouncy one in the office. The one who loved team projects.
It’s also why I was always at the bar while studying my MBA!
I expected to turn up at graduation, collect my certificate, shake a hand and walk off the stage and into the rest of my life.
I certainly didn’t expect to receive the Davina Hall Achievement award.
Davina Hall hadn’t been a No 1 student.
But in her time at Derby Uni, she made a reputation for helping people, looking after everyone, bringing students together and creating a wonderful team environment for the course.
An award was created to celebrate students who possessed those same qualities.
I had no idea I was receiving it, and it was an emotional moment to be presented with the award and meet her parents during the ceremony.
Clearly I had made a positive impact on the people around me, even if I didn’t feel I’d excelled at the course.
I hadn’t outperformed. But I’d helped other people to perform.
Many of us who preach about the importance of workplace culture and positive leadership are quick to reach for that classic quote about how people forget what you do, but remember how you make them feel.
And while it’s true, it’s also not very helpful.
It doesn’t explain how to make people feel good. There’s no practical advice given.
So here’s another way of thinking about it that might help:
We don’t remember the people who were high performers.
We remember the people who helped us to perform to the best of our abilities.
As leaders, our primary goal should be to help our people to perform.
