Whether you like it or not, as a business owner with a number of employees, your team will look to you for direction and guidance and to encourage your team. You will expected to demonstrate strong leadership, and provide clear direction as to where the business is heading.
One of the greatest leadership traits that I have come across in management is the ability to offer encouragement towards others.
When productive encouragement and praise is deservedly given over a period of time, you’re likely to experience the following benefits:
The benefits when you encourage your team:
Better morale & motivation
Members of staff whose efforts have been noticed tend to demonstrate higher morale and motivation to work, especially when compared to those who do not receive feedback and encouragement from their supervisors. In turn, this leads to a better working environment; and any challenges that crop up are often handled more successfully within a well-motivated, positive team.
Increased Effort
Individuals who receive encouragement, even when they aren’t performing as well, generally show willingness to work harder at the task, in order to achieve the desired result.
Better return on your investment
Given that a good portion of your company’s operating budget goes towards wages, it’s important to ensure that your team is as productive as possible, in order to improve your return on investment. Having a well-motivated team will ensure that your expenditure goes further, and more is achieved. A motivated team is more willing to find the best solution to a problem, and having such a team can give your company a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
How to start to encourage your team
Are you not in the habit of encouraging others? Some people struggle to offer encouragement, but the good news is that it’s relatively easy, when you’re armed with the right knowledge.
Start focusing on how your team perform, and observe what they get right. Encourage them by offering affirmation that they’ve done a good job. It might initially just be a small or seemingly obvious thing; which over a period of time, may migrate to a bigger task that they do well. However, this does not mean that you can shy away from the task of guiding them in your expectations.
It can be challenging to consciously focus on being encouraging towards your team. However, if you know that by changing a small portion of your behaviour to encourage others, you’ll increase your team’s effectiveness by a significant amount, then the effort suddenly seems worth it. If you multiply that throughout your business, how much revenue might you save in the long run?
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
Jack Welch
