There is nothing more impressive than a leader who knows every team member well. He or she knows not only each member’s name and job function, but more importantly, he or she knows them personally. ~Gordon Leidner (author of The Leadership Secrets of Hamilton)

People periodically ask me questions like, “What’s the most important attribute of a leader?” Or some other question where they are trying to get at the “magic silver bullet” of leadership. If I had to pick just one thing, I think Leidner’s statement would be the essential leadership element that makes the greatest difference in a leader’s ability to attract, and keep, followers.

While this sounds simple, doing it may not always be that easy. I recall not long ago how I really messed up. I have a client with an entry-level position that turns over frequently, and this person helps me get set up for trainings and is my go-to person if I need anything. A new person came on board and she was introduced to me via email. I glanced at her name and assumed I would remember it when I arrived onsite a few days later. In my hurriedness, all I could remember was an “A,” an “l,” and a sh sound in that email. The name that came to mind and even seemed obvious was “Ashley.” So I called this young woman “Ashley” a number of times throughout the day. It wasn’t until the second day I was there she finally said, “My name is actually Alicia.” I apologized profusely, but by that time the relationship was hard to repair.

I get it, it isn’t always easy to remember names, job function, and personal information on top of it. But the impact can be significant, both the impact of really knowing employees and the impact of not really knowing employees.

Over the course of years of extensive research, The Gallup Organization has identified 12 questions that determine employee engagement. One of those questions is, “Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?” Notice it states, “care about me as a person,” not “care about me as an employee.” This is another way of saying does someone know me personally.

HBR (Harvard Business Review) conducted an Interact/Harris Poll with workers and identified a number of communication issues that could prevent effective leadership. Thirty-six percent (that’s more than one-third!) said not knowing employees’ names. Here is HBR’s response to that finding.

Dale Carnegie said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Get to know your employees by name. If the company is too big to know everyone’s name, start with the people in close proximity. There’s no excuse for saying “I’m not good with names.” The best among us work at it. Learn the art of association.

I’m glad they said it, because I’ve had leaders say that exact same thing me. They aren’t good with names or it’s just too much to remember. In actuality, you can’t afford not to remember.

Get a notebook, write down names and some association to help you remember. Ask a colleague to help you become better at remembering names by repeating names of people in your presence. If you’ve got a photo directory, use it! Get creative, make it fun, use nameplates along with some personal fact at your next meeting. It’s far too important and too easy to overlook!