The people you employ matter. You put a lot of time, effort, and money into ensuring that they’re up to par so they can excel in your business. The thing is, you have to maintain a lot of different positive benefits in order to keep your valued employees. This means you’ll have to be a leader who inspires people to want to excel and to stay. One of the greatest things a leader can do is motivate and inspire their team. You lead by example in ways that will strongly resonate with your team.
Inspiring your team isn’t always as easy as it sounds. When you see a team of happy people, you may wonder how they got there. It seems effortless, and a business runs very well when everyone is happy in it. It can even become contagious where customers are also happy being in the presence of the team. This can lead to more sales and a lot of word-of-mouth interest.
To get to that point, you’ll have to ask your team about their preferences. Ask them what they like to do outside of work hours. Get to know them. Be empathetic, but don’t try to be everyone’s best friend. Look for ways to support everyone’s development within the company and on a personal level.
You Care as Much About Your People as You do the Business
A good leader is going to care about people in their lives as much as their business. This is probably one of the most important ways to inspire your colleagues and employees. You should care about your customers, your own family and friends, and show care towards the people who work for you. Everything starts from the top, so if you want your staff to care about you and your business, you have to show care for them too.
You Consciously Push Your Team for Excellence
Depending on what kind of business you have, you will want to use certain practices to push your team for excellence. This should always be in a way that’s kind and offers some kind of a reward. You could have them work towards certain professional accomplishments and goals. Showing acknowledgement when they make the goals is the second part of this that gives your staff a sense of importance. This is especially the case if you have millennials on staff. Giving them a feeling that they matter and a sense of purpose is essential to keeping them alert and working with you.
Lead with Your Head and Your Heart Equally
If you only lead with your heart, you may have a lot of happy staff, but you may eventually have to shut down shop. If you lead only with your head, which might include financial figures and people being nothing but a number, you will lose your valued staff. When you can balance both the head and heart, you make decisions that allow everyone to prosper, including yourself.
Be Open to Learning from Others
Your staff can teach you a great deal. They might be younger than you and really good at something you have no clue about. This is usually something tech-based which would otherwise cost you a fortune to have done. No doubt there’s someone young on your team who can figure it out. They might have alternatives to old ways of doing things too. Chances are, there is an app to make a complicated situation simple. Be open to learning from your staff. They can save you a lot of time and money. Plus, you make them feel really important when you take their ideas into consideration. This is where teamwork really shines. You hired the people you did for a reason, so listen to what they have to say about current business trends and innovations.
Help Others Develop
If you have a staff member who lacks a certain skill, help them obtain the skill. It helps you in the long run and makes them feel as though you care. When you help others in your company develop, they become more loyal and believe that where they work is much like a second family. Often, it costs nothing or very little to help your team develop. The rewards though are exponential. You give them the skills it takes to better your business, and they love you for it. All we really want is to be a part of something we feel is important. When we get the help we need, we are so much more fulfilled with our work.
Let Your Team Know that Your Value Their Ideas
Not all ideas are going to be great, while others are going to change your business for the better. The fact that your team is willing to share their ideas is relevant enough that you should honor their feedback. Let them know it. Casually ask them for their opinion in the hallways or during meetings. This kind of practice lets your team know that you value their opinions and ideas. You can also thank them when they do give you feedback or acknowledge who helped you come up with a great idea that materialized to something great later.
Just so you know, if you don’t feel like you’re a great leader right now, leadership is a learned talent. Statistically, 24% of leadership skills are actually genetic. The other 76% has to be learned. The most important trait for a leader is that they are centered. They can stay calm under stress. They listen to people intently and take in that information. They remain present, which is important in helping staff and customers alike feel really important. In a way, many of the great leaders are being mindful throughout the work day. You may want to consider doing meditation daily so you can gain balance and self-awareness.
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