1. Promote cooperation among individuals, groups, and departments
According to Jennifer Hancock, a leadership coach and the founder of Humanist Learning Systems in Manatee County, Florida, a leader’s job is to motivate the group to work together and complete the task at hand.
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“You won’t be leading your team if you are not focused on serving them,” she explains. “Leaders support, enable, and encourage.” Instead of the other way around, they serve their team. Hancock adds that taking charge of choices when the group is struggling to come to an agreement is an essential component of effective leadership. To keep the team moving ahead, a leader serves as a tiebreaker.
Increased motivation, trust, transparency, and a stronger feeling of accountability are just a few of the many possible advantages of cross-team cooperation.
2. Pay attention to what your staff has to say and welcome criticism.
By actively listening to your staff, you can increase their sense of engagement and value, which will strengthen the corporate culture. “As a leader, it’s more crucial than ever to have your finger on the pulse of your company because employees want their voices to be heard,” says Alex Onaindia, CEO of Miami marketing firm Distinction Agency. “It’s crucial to cultivate a culture of open communication and transparency because sometimes the best ideas come to you when you least expect it.” I firmly think that no suggestion made by any member of my team is bad.
Establish a Two-Dimensional Feedback Culture
Making time to listen to your team is a key component of effective leadership. Provide chances for workers to feel appreciated by:
talking to people one-on-one. Inquire about their opinions of the organization and your management style. Although employees might be reluctant at first, you will have a more innovative and effective team if you have an open-door policy.
facilitating brainstorming meetings. Engage your staff and make the process of creating knowledge more accessible. By leveling the playing field, this enables staff members to become more at ease providing candid feedback in various contexts.
Taking note of staff suggestions and implementing them. Acknowledge staff members and implement their recommendations. Relationships suffer when you have wonderful ideas but don’t follow through.
3. Communicate the “big picture” and establish an organizational vision.
Effective leaders establish and consistently promote a clear vision and goals for their teams. Carlos Castelán, Managing Director of The Navio Group, a Minneapolis-based retail business management consulting organization that works with senior executives, argues that “establishing a clear vision gives teams an understanding of why their work is valuable.” “People can focus on their work and exercise autonomy in pursuing the company’s vision when they have clear goals.” Employees feel more a part of the team and are able to recall how their work benefits others when the vision and goals are reinforced.
Make sure your leadership vision is clear, quantifiable, and goal-oriented to ensure it is powerful. It might also be a good idea to review your company growth plan and see if there are any ways you can improve it.
4. Acknowledge Your Weaknesses and Be More Open
According to Dr. Aaron Barth, founder and president of Dialectic, an HR and leadership consulting firm in Guelph, Ontario, leaders can become so engrossed in the politics of their organizations and in maintaining appearances that they forget that people respond to sincerity and honesty rather than perfection. “Better problem-solving, innovation, and creativity are driven by actively cultivating an environment where people can try, fail, and try again,” he adds. “And that begins with you, the team leader, letting them know about your mistakes.”
Building trust within your team and the company at large is facilitated by setting a good example and being transparent. Employees today demand their leaders to be open and honest, whereas ten years ago they would not have questioned a management decision made in secret. Announcements and directives are no longer sufficient; staff members increasingly demand to know how and why choices are being made. Understanding the advantages of honesty and communication in your business is more important than just rambling out whatever comes to mind.
5. Establish Connections to Foster Happiness
It might be particularly crucial for executives to establish a positive corporate culture and solid internal ties from the very beginning. According to Paul Maranville, Managing Partner of Lantern Partners, a Chicago-based executive recruiting agency, “this may involve spending half of your time meeting with various team members and managers or traveling to other locations within the organization” over the first six months. This will establish you as an approachable and visible team participant right away. As a result, you will gain credibility inside the company and establish yourself as a reliable leader in your particular field.
Developing genuine relationships within your team may have long-term benefits for turnover, culture, and productivity.
Strategies for Developing Relationships With Workers
Show empathy. Offer a helping hand to support an employee who is struggling to manage their issues.
Express gratitude. They invest a great deal of time and energy into the expansion of your company. Give them kudos and express your appreciation for their efforts, but be sincere and not only do it for show.
Put autonomy into practice. No one likes to be denied adequate room to finish their work. It has also been demonstrated that workplace autonomy boosts job happiness.
6. Stress Personal Growth
In order to be a successful leader, you must also train your team to assist them match their own objectives with the team’s or organization’s. According to Madineyah Isaacs, a life and leadership coach in New York City, “a leader employing this style is sympathetic and motivating, and focuses on developing others for future success.” The purpose is to concentrate on long-term life goals and how they relate to the group’s mission, which may require having in-depth discussions with coworkers on topics unrelated to the job at hand.
7. Give Your Team Lots of Praise
It may make a big difference to take the time to acknowledge your team’s hard work and effort, especially when it comes to giving them credit that you would have otherwise claimed for yourself. In actuality, praise and encouraging remarks may boost team morale and communication.
According to Angela Civitella, founder and CEO of INTINDE, a leadership business coaching company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, “a true leader is at ease and understands that recognizing someone else’s efforts takes nothing away.”
8. Honor Your Commitments
According to Andrea Angelucci, Manager of COMPASS Services at Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, it might be easy to start making promises about things like pay, incentives, or chances for professional advancement if you’re trying to inspire team members. She adds, “But these hollow promises will only serve to break the trust between you and your direct reports if you can’t deliver.” “Make commitments only when you are certain you can fulfill them.”
9. Invigorate Your Group
Every project has its share of highs and lows in terms of burden. Effective leaders must thus control a team’s energy in a variety of contexts, according to Juliana Stancampiano, CEO of Oxygen, a Seattle-based company that specializes in workplace enablement and education. According to her, “leaders establish and uphold an environment where team members can arrive, express their ideas, disagree, and work out a solution.” “They always return energy to a point of constructive energy, de-escalate it when it rises, and let it grow intense if necessary. This is essential if you want your team to consistently do excellent work without burning out your members.
Finding each team member’s distinct energy, skills, and passions is also crucial. Efficiency, trust, and buy-in may all be increased if you can continue to channel that energy as a team.
