Tips For Effective Leadership

Today's business landscape is more challenging than ever with several generations and cultures working alongside. So how can you lead well and build 'Rich Relationships' for greater engagement and team communication?

Focus on the basic building blocks for leadership - strong people skills. Think of what you earned in grade school grammar - 'A E I O U and sometimes Y' - the foundational letters - the building blocks of words we know as vowels.

Just as it takes vowels to form the words we use, it takes these people strategies to create a foundation for productive and engaged teams.

Tips for Effective Leadership:

1. AFFIRM Use the 5 communication 'dialects’ that show you value someone; fill their emotional tank regularly with: words of affirmation, appropriate touch, quality time, gifts, acts of service- aka 'the 5 Love Languages' by Gary Chapman. (A must read.)

Such sincere and regular affirming will build trust, engagement, and will instill confidence making it easier for constructive criticism to be just that - constructive and applied.

2. ENCOURAGE/Empower Acknowledge challenges, but remind members of their strengths and their ability to choose better outcomes. Give positive feedback to negative feedback 2:1.

Once you let someone share their struggles, recommend and provide the resources and tools to help them better navigate those challenges and ask them to commit to the next step.

3. INVOLVE others in the problem-solving/solution-gathering process. Help team members believe that they are capable by providing the freedom to choose one's steps and method as long as it's within budget. Independence and involvement often inspire.

4. OWNERSHIP Hold members accountable to their own solutions, yet, do so with kindness, concern, care and tolerance. Set specific, measurable goals and time frames, yet be a servant leader who will roll-up your sleeves and work alongside when deadlines are tight or the workload is maxed out.

5. UNDERSTANDING Make it clear that each person within the group should apply the principle 'Seek first to Understand,'(promoted by Jesus, made popular by Covey.) Be the first to model stepping back to consider the context from which someone is speaking or perceiving the situation. Consider the other person's perspective, then respond with care and conce
to redirect inappropriate or negative comments.

YOU Are YOU influencing others positively? Consider this Management Proverb:
He who thinks he is leading, but finds no one following, is only taking a walk.