By Shazad

Indra Nooyi, is the CEO of PepsiCo and she inspired this blog post. Nooyi writes more than 400 letters each year to the parents of her senior executives. I think all leaders need to be doing the same thing to drive better team results and a deeper connection with their leadership. It doesn’t matter if you manage a small team of rising stars or you are a C-level leader of seasoned executives. If your current team is doing well with each member contributing their best to their individual career, you can appreciate their efforts and reward them accordingly as well as mentioning their achievements to their parents.

You should consider all the efforts of the parents of the people under your command and how it shaped them. It’s most likely that your team and you yourself have been significantly impacted by the kinds of parents you had. Their struggles and sacrifices to raise, educate, and motivate kids are powerful in creating a great human being. Isn't this worth acknowledging?

By spending some time appreciating the parents of each successful member of your team, you are validating the power and influence of elders in creating the awesome person you hired and manage today. In most cases, it won’t replace a bonus or pay raise for the best employees but it will definitely create a stronger bond of respect with leaders who make that habit of reaching out to and praising the parents. This can result in a more cohesive and engaged team which is very critical to everyone's success.

It’s not just an Eastern culture courtesy to consider the parents or elders and teachers in our lives. It is a very human quality of gratitude and appreciation. Every leader should also take the time to personally acknowledge their own parents and other elders who helped you become the person they are today. You could not have done this without them and they deserve to know this!