Leading a team is one of those really odd areas. When it is going well it can seem really easy and just natural. When it is a struggle it is a very different story. You know that to a large extent the success that you achieve as a leader is down to maintaining the support of your team.
So how do you maintain the support of your team?
Involve Them
What type of leader do you want to be? You could be the one who dishes out orders and instructions or the one who involves the team in key decisions. While there is a small minority of people on a team who will just go with the flow, the vast majority want to be involved, to have their say and make their contribution.
Encourage Them
Those that you lead just like you have their moments of doubt. They may need the encouragement of you to take on new responsibilities or roles. When you encourage others you give out a very strong message that you care about them and their success.
Listen To Them
Your people know that you are good at what you do, that after all is why you are in a leadership role. At the same time you know that you cannot know the detail, the problems, challenges and opportunities on everything. Listening to the team is invaluable. It takes very little effort but can yield huge benefits.
Do What You Promise
People understand that no one can deliver perfect results 100% of the time. By the same token they will not want to have a lot of promises that you never deliver on. Choose your promises wisely and then make sure you deliver on them.
Don’t Play The Seniority Card
Yes you are more senior in terms of the organisational hierarchy. At the same time you are just a normal human being just like them. The more of that human side you can see the better as I will build trust and loyalty.
Deal With Difficult Stuff Professionally
There is going to be some difficult stuff to deal with periodically. When that comes around the key is to deal with it professionally and confidentially. Dealing with the messy stuff privately is key as dealing with in public will destroy trust.
The Bottom Line: Winning and maintaining the support of your team is vital to the results that you achieve and deliver as a leader. So what do you need to do more to get even better results as a leader?
Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps leaders and managers in organisations get better results from teams. He invites you to sign up for his free audio materclass
