How can you tell whether giving attention is a calculated or an honest behavior?
The short answer is: when a manager or leader takes his time for a team member and is curious.
An empathetic answer could be: when a leader manages to evoke positive emotions and the imagination of his team members. And they feel being in the right place, loving what they do and wanting to stick around with this very work and this very leader.
If someone manages to arouse these emotions … then it is very likely based on honest and not faked “giving attention”.
It is the small things that reveal if one just pretends or means it.
Does the person make an effort:
- to truly listen
- to ask great questions
- to include everybody in idea developing processes etc
- to trust
Listen
To make the effort to be attentive, e.g. to really listen to the other person, to care, to reflect a problem, situation or task requires to take time. Which everybody claims not to have. If somebody takes the time that is necessary to really listen that might show that he pays attention for real and not faking it.
