When we think about leadership qualities the subject of considerateness is rarely on anyone’s list. Yet when anyone complains about their up-line manager it is often the lack of consideration for the needs or situation of the individual that is prominent on the list of complaints.
Being considerate about others is a highly prized quality in our social interactions yet it often gets lost in the hurly-burly of business life. We need to get things done so we pick on the individual with the appropriate skills and ask them to do what is required. Managers rarely stop to consider the situation of those they are asking to do the work. The priority is to achieve the end result not to concern ourselves over-much with the niceties of how it is done.
Yet it is this very fact of considerateness that teams value in their leaders. People perform better for leaders who are aware of their situations and take their work-loads into account when asking them to perform new tasks.
