By Steve Moran

I was listening to an older WorkLife podcast hosted by best selling author and leadership thought leader Adam Grant. As part of a broader conversation, this question was asked:

How well do your team members sleep at night?

It was a brand new way for me as a leader to think about my team. It is even a great way for the Senior Living Foresight team to think about how we interact with our readers and our sponsors.

The First Question

The first question a leader must face is this: Do I even care about how my team members sleep at night? After all, it is not necessary. All I really need to care about is whether or not they get the work done the way I want it done. It would be easy for a leader to say:

  • I can’t control how well my team members sleep at night
  • It is not my responsibility
  • They would sleep better at night if they just did what I told them to do

Steady State

What I am talking about is a team member’s steady state. There are going to be times when you have to have hard conversations. And those conversations will make them have an uneasy night or two, but it should not be long term.

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The Goal

I used to volunteer with a ski patrol. I would get up very, very early on the first day of a long weekend, drive 2-4 hours so I could be at the ski area at least an hour before the mountain opened to the public. Then I would work to exhaustion, typically until 30 minutes after the lifts stopped running. I’d then go find a cheap hotel room where I would pop 4 Advil, crawl into a hot shower, followed by bed.

With a huge smile on my face.

Because that hard work was so satisfying and because I could hardly wait to get up the next morning and do it again.

And this was for zero pay.

When we are concerned about how well our team members sleep at night, the goal is that kind of workday.

So, how well do your team members sleep at night? If you are a team member how well do you sleep at night?

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