The Best Advice I Ever Got: Michelle Peluso, President and Chief Executive Officer, Travelocity

A few months before I was born, my father founded an environmental-engineering firm. I literally grew up watching him build it. Even as a little kid, I was struck by Dad’s obsessive interest in and care for the people who worked for him.

Nights when our family’s dinner-table conversation didn’t include discussion of his employees were rare. “Sally’s gotten accepted into an MBA program,” he’d say excitedly, “and we’re going to figure out how she can do that part-time.” Or “John’s wife just had a baby girl! We’re going over this weekend to see her.” Before company picnics we were thoroughly briefed: Bill had just won a new client; Mary was about to make an important presentation. His concern was authentic and unwavering, and it extended to all aspects of his employees’ lives. When two of his top employees were killed in a plane crash coming back from a business trip, Dad spent time with their grieving families.

Now, my father’s attitude and behavior were just part of his personality, not some maneuver to produce results—but they produced them all the same. He grew that start-up into a thriving 300-person business and then sold it to a larger company but continued to run it successfully. Two years ago, when he left to begin a new venture, more than half of his former employees sent him their résumés. So although my father never gave me management advice directly, his example provided a profound lesson: If you treat your employees as unique individuals, they’ll be loyal to you and they’ll perform—and your business will perform, too.

The longer I’m in my own career, the more I attempt to put that lesson into practice. At a 5,000-person global organization, I simply can’t know everyone personally. But I can apply my dad’s techniques in a scaled-up way that lets me know as many people as possible, that encourages managers to do the same, and that makes our employees generally feel that this is a place where someone’s looking out for them. I often visit our different offices; I hold brown-bag lunches every week; I regularly e-mail the whole staff about what’s going well and what needs to improve; I hold quarterly talent management sessions with my direct reports; and I constantly walk the halls. When anyone at Travelocity e-mails me, I respond within 24 hours. I read every single word of our annual employee survey results and of my managers’ 360-degree performance feedback—and I rate those managers in large part on how well they know and lead their own people.

Focusing on individuals instead of “the team” isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time and genuine caring, and requires a long-term view—which can be tough when you’ve got a big business to run. Ultimately, however, it’s worth the effort, for your employees and for the organization. A few years ago one of our senior managers was leading a huge project that had high visibility with our investor community when she began having pregnancy complications. I fully supported her in taking several months off, for her own health and for her kids. It was a daunting time, but the team worked through it, and that manager is still working here—as our COO.

I describe my leadership style in all humility. I don’t have all the answers on how to lead people, and I learn from colleagues every day. But I share Dad’s entrepreneurial belief: People aren’t your “greatest asset”—they’re your only asset.

Via: Harvard Business