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Premise:
A recent article in the MIT Sloan Management Review carried a title that should stop every leader in their tracks: “Your people are not all right.”
It speaks to a widespread reality of overwhelm, stress, and burnout that many teams are facing.
While tracking performance, hitting targets, and managing metrics are essential parts of leadership, they are not the whole story.
A truly great leader—a “leader worth following“—understands that sustainable success is built on the well-being of their people.
This requires going deeper than the dashboard. It’s a strategic blind spot for most leaders, who overlook the single most powerful and human tool they possess: a simple, observant question.
Look for the Shift, Not Just the Slump
The first step to becoming a more attuned leader is to watch for any significant change in a team member’s behavior, not just a drop in their performance.
A “shift” can be positive, negative, or neutral, but it’s almost always a signal that something significant is happening in their life.
Consider these examples of behavioral shifts:
- A consistent top performer suddenly slacking off.
- A team member whose performance improves significantly out of the blue.
- A punctual person who starts arriving late.
- An outgoing, vocal team member who becomes withdrawn and silent.
- A team member who consistently contributes in meetings but suddenly goes quiet.
When you notice these shifts, you demonstrate that you care about the individual behind the role, not just their output.
In an era where “people are not all right,” these shifts are the early warning signs of burnout, disengagement, or personal struggle.
Ignoring them is not just a failure of empathy; it’s a failure of strategy and leadership.
Good Leaders Watch Performance while Great Leaders Watch Performance AND People.
How a leader responds to these shifts—or if they notice them at all—is a clear differentiator between average, good, and exceptional leadership. There are three distinct levels:
- The Average Leader: Doesn’t notice these behavioral shifts at all. Their focus remains locked on metrics and deliverables, and the subtle human signals are missed entirely.
- The Good Leader: Notices the shifts, but only when they start to negatively impact performance. Their concern is triggered by a dip in the numbers, making their intervention reactive.
- The Leader Worth Following: Is always looking out for their team’s well-being. They notice shifts proactively because their primary investment is in their people. Their goal is sustainable success, where the team feels seen, heard, truly taken care of, and invested in—not just as employees, but as individuals.
This is the fundamental dividing line in leadership: Are you managing performance, or are you developing people? The former gets results; the latter gets results AND builds legacies.
Ask the Most Powerful Question in Leadership
Once you notice a shift, the next step isn’t to make assumptions or demand explanations. It’s to open a door for conversation with a simple, direct, and compassionate question.
The most effective questions you can ask are often the most basic:
- “Are you okay?”
- “Is everything okay?”
- “Tell me what’s going on.”
The power of this approach is its simplicity. It signals genuine concern without being intrusive.
This approach de-escalates any perceived confrontation and lowers the emotional barrier to entry, creating the psychological safety necessary for a candid conversation.
It respects the team member’s boundaries by allowing them to decide how much they want to share. The goal isn’t to pry into their personal life, but to let them know you see them, you care, and you are there to offer support if they need it.
In Conclusion:
Becoming a leader worth following is an active process. It is about moving from the passive observation of performance charts to the proactive care of the people responsible for that performance.
By noticing the subtle shifts and asking simple, human questions, you build a foundation of trust and support.
The goal is to know when your people need support so you can provide it—without them ever having to ask. You don’t wait for a request; you see the need and you act. That is what makes you a leader worth following.
Think about your team right now — what subtle shift might you be missing?
