The Ultimate Leadership Secret: Invest in Your People
Leadership isn’t complicated. After decades of working with business leaders, elite athletes, and educators, I’ve discovered the fundamental truth that separates great leaders from the rest: Take care of your people so well that together, you can achieve the extraordinary.
This principle came alive for me through my involvement with the Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce Tuesday Luncheon Group. Each meeting begins not with business pitches, but with personal stories—a colleague sharing about their cochlear implant surgery, another opening up about losing a beloved horse, someone navigating a difficult divorce. These leaders understand something profound: when you invest in people as whole human beings, not just employees, you unlock unprecedented potential.
Why People Investment Matters
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, your competitive advantage isn’t technology or strategy, it’s your people. Organizations that invest deeply in their workforce see higher engagement, lower turnover, and breakthrough innovation. Yet most leaders underutilize their greatest resource: the lived experiences and untapped potential of their team members.
10 Powerful Ways to Invest in Your People
- Tap Into Personal, Practical Knowledge (PPK)
Every team member brings a lifetime of experiences to work. The single mother who juggles multiple responsibilities has mastered time management. The former military member understands discipline and teamwork. The immigrant employee brings cultural insights and resilience.
Action step: Schedule one-on-one conversations to discover each person’s unique background and explore how their life experiences can enhance your organization’s success. - Build Vision Together, Not from the Top Down
Stop telling people what your vision is and start creating it together. When people participate in shaping the future, they don’t just buy in—they own it.
Action step: Facilitate vision-building sessions where every voice is heard. Ask: “What would make you proud to tell your family about our work here?” - Make Decisions Together
Consensus isn’t always possible, but participation always is. When people feel heard in decision-making, they become advocates rather than skeptics.
Action step: For major decisions, gather input through small group discussions or town halls before finalizing your approach. - Live Your Values Out Loud
Values painted on conference room walls are meaningless. Values lived through daily actions become cultural DNA.
Action step: Share specific stories of when team members embodied your values. Make values recognition a regular part of team meetings. - Support Personal Dreams
Here’s a radical idea: Help your people achieve their personal goals, even if those goals eventually lead them elsewhere. This investment creates loyalty, engagement, and attracts top talent.
Action step: Ask each team member about their personal aspirations and find ways to support their growth, whether through stretch assignments, skill development, or mentoring. - Master the Art of Feedback
Most feedback fails because it damages relationships rather than building them. Great leaders create “feedback relationships” ongoing partnerships focused on mutual growth.
Action step: Replace annual reviews with monthly “stewardship conferences” where you and each team member discuss progress, challenges, and support needed. - Embrace the Learning Journey
Learning is messy. When people tackle new challenges, they enter what Butler and Edwards call “the learning pit”, a period of confusion and frustration that’s actually essential for growth. Great leaders normalize this struggle and provide support through it.
Action step: When someone is learning something new, they acknowledge that confusion is normal and create psychological safety for questions and mistakes. - Develop Skills Systematically
Moving from novice to expert takes time and intentional development. The Dreyfus Model shows us that people need different types of support at different skill levels.
Action step: Assess where each team member stands with key skills and provide appropriate training, mentoring, or stretch opportunities. - Grow Leaders at Every Level
Leadership isn’t a position, it’s a choice. Create opportunities for people to lead projects, mentor others, and make meaningful decisions.
Action step: Identify emerging leaders and give them increasing responsibility through a clear delegation process with defined expectations and support. - Teach Thinking Skills
Most people operate with limited thinking strategies. Teach your team tools like lateral thinking for creativity and parallel thinking for better meetings and problem-solving.
Action step: Introduce one new thinking tool per month in team meetings and practice applying it to real challenges.