Charles S. was the regional HR business partner for a food manufacturing business.
When a role opened up on his team, his vice president told him to hire La'Mone. She didn't have the experience. She didn't have the degree that would have qualified her for the position. She was not Charles's choice.
He hired her anyway. Because he was told to.
But here's what Charles did next. On La'Mone's first day, he was upfront with her.
"You weren't my first choice. And it's nothing personal against you. It's just you don't have the experience I'm looking for. But with you and I working together, you'll get that experience. You've got a year to get up to speed. Here's some things that you're going to need to know in order to be successful in your role."
That's a hard conversation to have. Most leaders would have avoided it entirely.
Charles didn't stop there. He shared a story from his own life. When he got out of the army, he landed his first job — and then got laid off at midnight. He sat in the parking lot that night trying to figure out what to do next. He didn't have a college degree. He didn't have options.
He told La'Mone: "I made the decision that very night to go enroll in college. I told myself I will never be in a position again where I don't have options."
Then he turned it back to her.
"If this company goes bankrupt tomorrow, what are you going to do? You've got nothing to fall back on."
La'Mone enrolled in college. When Charles and I spoke, she was about a year away from graduating with her degree in human resources.
Charles no longer works directly with La'Mone. But she still reaches out to him.
What strikes me about this story is that Charles could have just given La'Mone the job and kept his distance. Instead he decided — even though she wasn't his pick — that he was going to make her successful.
He was honest with her about where she stood. He shared his own vulnerability. And then he pushed her toward something bigger than the job she'd just been handed.
That's a Warm Demander.
High warmth doesn't mean telling people what they want to hear. Sometimes it means telling them exactly what they need to hear — and trusting them enough to do something about it.
Leaders,
Think about someone on your team right now who came to you without all the qualifications you wanted.
Have you invested in them the way Charles invested in La'Mone?
Have you been honest with them about where they stand — and what it's going to take?
Have you shared any of your own story with them?
That last one matters more than you might think. When a leader shares where they've struggled, it gives a young employee permission to struggle too. And then to push through it.
This story is excerpted from Get Gen Z Into the Game, Colleen McFarland's award-winning playbook for leaders who want to bring out the best in their youngest employees.
👉 Find out if you are a warm demander leader. Take the quiz.
