Have you ever noticed how quickly people learn what matters to their leader?
Not necessarily from what the leader says.
From what they ask about.
What they recognize.
What gets celebrated.
What gets corrected.
And what consistently gets their attention.
Imagine a leader who tells the team that client relationships are the organization’s number one priority.
But every meeting begins with production numbers.
Every celebration focuses on new sales.
Every performance conversation centers on revenue.
Meanwhile, the employee who spent hours resolving a difficult client issue barely gets a mention.
What is the team learning?
It’s not that production doesn’t matter. Of course it does.
But if that’s the only thing getting attention, we may be unintentionally teaching people that everything else matters a little less.
Every Organization Has a Scoreboard
Some scoreboards are formal.
Revenue. Profitability. Client retention. New business. Service levels.
Others are less visible.
- Who gets recognized?
- What gets celebrated?
- Which problems receive immediate attention?
- What behaviors are tolerated?
- What does the leader consistently ask about?
These informal signals can be just as influential as the metrics on a dashboard.
Over time, people learn which activities and behaviors receive attention.
They begin making decisions accordingly.
And sometimes the scoreboard we’re actually using doesn’t match the one we intended to create.
The Behaviors We Unintentionally Reinforce
Let’s say you’re a leader who wants to develop greater ownership across your team.
You want people to think independently, make decisions, and solve problems without continually coming back to you.
But when someone brings you a problem, you immediately provide the answer.
You know what needs to happen.
You have years of experience.
You can probably resolve the issue in a fraction of the time it would take to walk someone else through it.
So you do.
And the next time that person encounters a problem?
They come back to you.
Not necessarily because they lack initiative.
They may simply have learned that bringing the issue to you is the fastest and most reliable way to get it resolved.
Your helpfulness has unintentionally reinforced dependency.
Now imagine responding differently.
- “What options have you considered?”
- “What do you think we should do?”
- “What information would help you make that decision?”
You might still need to provide guidance. You might even need to make the final decision.
But you’re also helping the person develop the judgment they’ll need next time.
And when they demonstrate initiative, you recognize it.
You’re reinforcing the capability you want to grow.
What we consistently reinforce teaches people what matters.
Measure What You Want More Of
This brings us to measurement.
Metrics can help us understand whether our actions are creating the results we want.
But only if we’re measuring the right things.
Consider a business focused on growth.
New revenue is important.
But what about client retention?
- Service quality?
- Employee development?
- Operational capacity?
The ability to serve additional clients without continually increasing the workload of the same few people?
If we focus exclusively on new business, we may overlook the capabilities needed to support that growth.
The same principle applies to leadership.
If we say we want to develop people, how do we know they’re growing?
Are they taking on new responsibilities?
Making more independent decisions?
Building stronger relationships?
Developing new skills?
And are we recognizing that progress?
Not everything meaningful can be reduced to a number.
But that doesn’t mean we should stop paying attention to it.
Your Attention Is a Leadership Tool
One of the most valuable things a leader can do is become more intentional about where they direct their attention.
Consider the questions you ask during meetings.
The behaviors you recognize.
The problems you choose to address.
The decisions you make.
The things you allow to continue.
Each one sends a message.
And when those messages are consistent, they help people understand what matters.
This doesn’t mean ignoring problems or refusing to recognize strong individual performance.
It means being intentional about the full range of behaviors and results you’re encouraging.
If collaboration matters, recognize collaboration.
If ownership matters, acknowledge thoughtful decisions and initiative.
If client relationships matter, celebrate the people who strengthen them.
If developing others matters, make time to notice and discuss their progress.
And if sustainable growth matters, pay attention to whether your people and operating practices can support it.
Build for What Comes Next
Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored what happens when too much knowledge lives in one person’s head, why clear agreements matter, and how a strong operating rhythm helps work move forward.
But creating those systems and practices is only part of the equation.
We also need to reinforce the behaviors and results that will help them succeed.
So this week, pay attention to your own attention.
- What do you ask about most often?
- What gets recognized?
- What gets corrected?
- What do people see you making time for?
And perhaps most importantly:
If someone watched what you paid attention to for a week, what would they conclude matters most to you?
Does that match what you want to grow?
Because building for what comes next requires more than deciding where we want to go.
It requires making sure our everyday actions are helping us get there.