Building Leadership Skills – Part 3 of 3

So you Think you can Lead…

The final step in building raving followers is showing that you care about your team.

It is extremely difficult for a team member to be motivated to go above and beyond for a leader if that leader shows no care for his/her team members.  Without an evidence that a leader cares about his team, the followers may be inclined to think of themselves as being replaceable.  It is very hard to imagine a person who does not feel understood or appreciated to be a gung-ho follower.  You must show care towards your team members for them to show care towards you as a leader.

Reinforcements : Things that show you care about the person you are leading.

• Learning about the personal life of employees
• Listen for understanding
• Understanding employees motivations, strengths, and preferences

Violations : Things that undermine your goal of showing you care about the person you are leading.

• Not acknowledging an understanding of employee
• Not acknowledging employee’s contribution to company
• Directing changes without input from team
• Dismiss opinions of team members
• Belittle experience of team members

To unlock your potential, it is critical to show people you care about them. Be sure to do more activities that reinforce this and work to eliminate the destructive violations.

Change needs pratice. And practice needs patience.