The other week, I spent time with two chief executives who most of us would say are engaging folk. However, there was a major difference between them.

Both of them engaged me in them as people. I felt valued by them, listened to and included in the conversation. This helped me feel good which is perhaps why I only realised later that there was something missing for me with one of them.

It was that one of them had engaged me in him but not in his future. Yes, I absolutely thought he was a good bloke but I came away knowing very little about what future he wanted to build, where he wanted to take his organisation, all of which was clear and exciting from the other leader.

So notice that when you’re engaging someone, it’s happening on two levels. On one, you’re engaging them in you and, on the other, in the Future you want – you might be able to see this quickly if you think about times you’ve been engaged by others.

My question therefore this week is how well are you engaging others in you and how well in the Future you want? (By the way, you can’t answer this without talking to others!)

By Steve Radcliffe