I went to dinner the other night with friends that have several young kids.  The conversation moved to their new school and how they are adapting to the change.  The 10 year old son said something funny that stuck with me.  He said, “I don’t think my Spanish teacher likes me… because she does not spend as much time with me as with the other kids.”  Interesting that at the young age he has already figured out the code - CARING = TIME.

So here is the question of the day.  Who are you not spending time with on your team or in your organization?  Who is feeling a little under-loved because they notice that they do not get as much time as others.  As a leader we are sometimes guilty of spending a lot of time hanging out with the “successful” people on the team because it is easy.  We then spend a lot of time with the “problem” people because they need the time.  Guess who gets left out?  The middle kid.  The employee who is doing good work but not winning the awards.

Schedule some time today or tomorrow to spend some time with the ones you have neglected.  Don’t them them feel like “I don’t think she/he likes me…..”