Make Sure Your Employees Have Good Things to Say About You Behind Your Back

Powerful, inspirational leadership can only happen if employees develop an emotional attachment to the boss. The best executives know this. But how do you foster this kind of attachment in a big company where people are scattered all over the world? If you’re like most senior leaders, you try to bridge the distance via email, internal social-media postings, occasional in-person meetings, speeches, and videos. Which are not great for developing relationships. For all kinds of reasons, including the typically bland, scripted nature of a lot of communications, employees tend to tune out official messages.