By now you all know that great leader is more than just a ‘boss.’ A leader invests in their teams and empowers them to learn and grow past the basic job description.
In order for your employees to deliver the most quality results, you have to show them you care. This goes so much further than asking how someone’s day is or if they had a good weekend. It means showing genuine interest in their lives and remembering what they shared with you.
When you truly invest in your teams, they are much more likely to go above and beyond for you out of loyalty and trust.
Let’s dive into Forbes’ three ways to prove to your team you actually care about them:
- “Get personal.” Take the time to truly get to know the individual members of your team. Ask about their lives and they hobbies. Bring it up later when it’s relevant or share articles they would like based on their interests. It’s not enough to just talk surface level with your employees. Of course, we’re not suggesting you should pry into the personal aspects of everyone’s lives or force them to tell your intimate details. But you can prove to them you value their personality at work by remembering and engaging with their stories.
- “Connect the dots.” All anyone really wants is transparency. Fill your team in on the value they bring to the team and the company by sharing context. We all want to understand the direct impact we make and it’s your job to share that information out with your teams. If you don’t share this information, individuals tend to think of themselves as just a small cog in the machine and no one wants to feel that way. They want to understand the greater picture and the role they play in achieving it.
- “Measure what matters.” Simply measuring the bottom line does not help the individuals. It only helps the greater company and the senior leadership teams. When measuring the success of each individual, you have to pay attention to what actually matters here. Help them to understand how to measure the success by setting quantifiable goals and empowering them to achieve said goals. Of course, it can be time consuming and maybe a bit difficult to come up with individual metrics of success for each person, but it will help them grow in their career paths. Leadership is not a one-size-fits-all approach. You HAVE to take the time to figure out what works for EACH person and then consistently work through those things.
Caring about your team doesn’t have to create a mountain of work for your. But doing a small bit each day will go a long way, trust us on this one!
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