A friend of mine still remembers advice her first boss gave her almost 30 years ago: “If you just return people's calls and respond to their emails, you'll be ahead of 99% of people at work.” She's three decades into her career now, and she says it's even more true today than it was then.

As a manager, training your team likely means focusing on the job itself - from processes to reports. But there are three things that can make the biggest difference in how far someone actually goes in their career, and rarely does anyone take the time to explain these. But you can! This week's video breaks down what they are, and how you can start teaching them to your team today. 

Why “Common Sense” Isn't as Common as It Should Be

When you watch the video and read these three tips, they might sound obvious. That's exactly why they don't get taught.

You're focused on hitting results, running from meeting to meeting, and getting through the day - not sitting your team member down to explain that returning emails matters. But “obvious” and “actually happening” are two very different things. So, let's break it down.

1) Timely communication. Think about the last time you sent something and never heard back. Now think about how that felt. Your team members might create that same feeling for other people frequently, often without realizing it.

The fix isn't “respond to everything instantly" - it's setting an expectation, and it looks different depending on the role:

- Corporate teams: Same-day acknowledgment on substantive emails, even if the full answer takes longer. “Got it, digging in, will have this to you by Thursday” can do wonders.
- Retail or restaurant teams: A customer standing in line doesn’t need speed as much as acknowledgment. A quick “Thank you so much, I’ll be right with you” changes the awkwardness of waiting into an appreciation of recognizing them even when it's busy.
- For healthcare: Have someone check in on patients during long waits. Silence is what turns a wait into a complaint.

Takeaway for people leaders: Don’t assume “communicate well” is self-explanatory. Give your team the actual standard - how fast, what counts as acknowledgment, and what to do when they’re too slammed to hit it. And give them ideas to keep track

Takeaway for HR leaders: This is all about making expectations actually clear before holding people to them. If nobody’s ever written down what “responsive” means for a given role, you’re assessing people against a standard that's never been truly set.

2) Proactively reach out. Picture this: your team member promised something by Friday. By Thursday, they know they’re not going to make it. Most people’s instinct is to try to finish it early next week and hope nobody notices - which is exactly what turns a small delay into a trust problem.

Here’s what proactive looks like in practice:

- Corporate teams: “Something came up - here’s where I am, and here's when I can realistically get it. If that's an issue, I can escalate to see what else we can do” sent before anyone has to ask.

- Manufacturing teams: A factory line team member immediately raising a noticeable process gap rather than waiting for their supervisor to notice it.

- Remote teams: A team member checking globally holiday schedules before scheduling an important meeting, rather than picking a date that works for one location and waiting for others to raise conflicts.

The same goes for new projects, as I explain in the video. Most people added to a project would wait until the kickoff meeting and only participate when asked or directed. But you team member can stand out by sending a note to the project leader before the first meeting: “Looking forward to this - is there anything I should review before we meet as a team to help get started?”

Takeaway for people leaders: Reinforce it the second you see it. “I really appreciate you telling me before I had to ask” is a quick line that teaches someone to keep doing it (and shows you're noticing what they're doing right, not just there to point out what's wrong).

Takeaway for HR leaders: This is what separates “high performer” from “meets expectations” in most calibration conversations, and almost nobody’s taught it directly. Using manager training to show how to give specific examples can close a common gap.

3) Do what you say you’re going to do. This one ties the first two together. Your team member communicated the timeline, and proactively spoke up when something came up. Now comes the part that actually builds trust - follow-through.

What that looks like by role:

- Corporate teams: Keeping a running list of open commitments, crossed off as they’re done - not trusted to memory.

- Retail or restaurant teams: If a manager says a schedule will be posted by Wednesday, it’s posted by Wednesday. It's small, but it’s the thing employees remember.

- Nonprofit teams: When a team member says they'll stop by a coat drive and help out, and does, bringing two neighbors with them. It makes the mission truly come to life.

Nobody is perfect on any of this - things come up. But the people who consistently do what they say, even on small things, are the ones a team learns to rely on without checking in.

Takeaway for people leaders: When someone drops the ball, don’t just move on. Try: “I noticed that one slipped - what’s your tracking process to make sure you're remembering everything you've committed to?” That’s coaching, not calling out.

Takeaway for HR leaders: Reliability is one of the hardest things to teach retroactively. If it’s not part of onboarding or a manager's coaching, it’s not going to show up on its own.

What This Sounds Like in Practice

No matter your role, each of these can be taught in a five-minute conversation, and even better, a pattern you model yourself. When your team member drops the ball on a follow-up, instead of just moving on, try: “I noticed that email sat for a few days - what's your process for keeping track of who's waiting on you?” When someone flags a problem before you had to find it, reinforce it immediately: “I really appreciate you telling me before I had to ask.” That reaction is what teaches them to keep doing it.

The Cost of Not Teaching This

Here's what it costs you when you don't teach these: Your day becomes swallowed up by chasing down updates, smoothing over frustrated emails from other departments, and wondering why “good” employees keep getting passed over for opportunities they were technically qualified for.

The good news is that you can teach these - to brand-new employees and long-tenured ones alike. It can mean you noticing these moments as they happen and naming them out loud. Or having a meeting agenda with your team on "3 Things to Help You Be Ahead of 99% of People at Work" where you talk through them, and team members share how they've seen these come to life. Thirty years from now, someone on your team might still be repeating what you taught them - the same way my friend still repeats what her first boss told her.

If you're in HR, this is exactly the kind of "unwritten rules" training that's hard to scale one manager at a time. Our leadership platform gives every manager in your organization the tools to teach this consistently - book a preview here to see how it works.

If you're a manager, you don't have to build this training yourself. Manager 101 walks you through exactly how to have even the toughest conversations with your teams, with scripts already written for you. As one manager put it after taking it: “I wish someone had handed me this my first year managing people. I still learned things even though I've been managing people for 15 years.”