Can you name one successful team or team, regardless of field, that achieved success without good coaching? Even if the team or team is made up of the best and highest quality people, the need for a strong leader to inspire, support, guide and encourage is great.
And this is true for both football teams and teams within a company. Including the company you work for. Leaders are the backbone of the team. The advisors who are always there to listen, hear and help.
However, their mission is not easy. They have a responsibility to make the best decisions possible, but at the same time to be open-minded and remain flexible. Executives balance the needs of the company’s people with the company’s business goals. Are you born a leader? Or do you spend a lifetime learning to be one?
Regardless of a leader’s lack of experience and the challenges they go through, there are always ways and tactics they can develop their skills and become a better version of themselves. And by developing his personal qualities, he inevitably develops his professional ones as well. Until one day he becomes the manager and leader that everyone adores. Is it impossible?
Be open to every person
If you want to build a diverse team, you need to create an inclusive and positive organisational culture. When every team member feels respected and valued, it increases employee productivity and therefore work gets done much better. A team filled with people who respect each other, value each other and feel they belong is a happy team. And a happy team is a productive team that has the ability to propel the company to the top.
Make every employee feel they are in the right place
But how would you make them feel so good about the company? A person’s internal state is of particular importance at work. When we feel good on the inside, there’s nothing to stop us from feeling good on the outside too, and therefore being full of creative ideas, goals, suggestions and a desire to work. This would be helped by frank conversations and feedback from employees. They are leading the way in how the employee feels, as well as finding out what is wrong with the work process and what can be improved.
Even constructive criticism has its limits
Approving your employees’ ideas more often, even if they are not that good, also plays an important role. Help with your own ideas as a complement to his, rather than completely dismissing what he offers. Remember that even constructive criticism, which is necessary in many cases, has its limits, but constant criticism can backfire and lead to low productivity. And in the eyes of your employees, you may become not the favorite supervisor, but the supervisor who never likes anything.
Help your team develop its potential
Another important thing is recognizing the qualities of each team member and giving them tasks that would develop their full potential. It would be better to give your employees a little more freedom, and not ask too much of them with projects whose deadlines are too short, because the likelihood of burnout is high, and recovering from this state is difficult.
Empower your team
The key to building a strong organizational culture is to empower your team. A good company culture drives motivation and this would keep employees at work. To show your team that you trust them, delegate responsibilities and make work processes collaborative. Ask them for feedback – both on your performance and the success of the project. Knowing that you value their opinion will boost their confidence in you and help them feel more confident and empowered in their work.
Behave responsibly
You must accept the truth that neither your team nor its work is perfect. And that’s everywhere in the world. But ultimately, the responsibility is yours – which means you have to take responsibility for any mistakes you make. And yes, while it’s not easy, it’s called accountability and it’s also one of the hardest leadership skills to master. As a team leader, you must take responsibility for all the work that is done, even if you didn’t create it.
There is a positive side to this. By taking responsibility for your team’s mistakes, you have the opportunity to help them learn from their mistakes. This builds trust, which shows your team that it’s safe to experiment and take creative risks. This is how the best ideas are ultimately born.
Know when to push (and when to stop)
The best managers do two things: push their team to evolve and support them in slowing down.
Keeping your team motivated and engaged can push them to be more creative. A manager’s role is to manage their people on both productivity days and burnout days. You need to know your employees well enough. This is the only way to know when they need stimulation and motivation and when they need to step away from their tasks briefly to rest.