Being a great leader isn’t about making employees respond to your every beck and call. A bossy manager only adds to employee stress, unhappiness, and decreases overall productivity. Great leaders care about the development of their employees and are willing to spend the time teaching, enlightening, and guiding them. In other words, leadership isn’t about you; it’s about them. Here are a few strategies to become a better leader and teacher in order to empower your staff.
Be a role model.
The most important key to being a successful leader is to lead by example. Your team is watching and emulating you. Make sure your attitude, behavior, and habits are the ones you want them to exhibit. Look at the behavioral habits of your employees. Do you like what you see? If not, look in the mirror a little more carefully. The source of frustration in your employee’s behavior likely starts with you.
Encourage employees to be risk takers.
As a manager, you want innovative motivated, confident employees. However, they won’t be any of these things if they fear the repercussions of making a mistake. Encourage employees to think outside the box and try new things. Instill that as long as they tried something for the right reasons and can learn from the mistake, failure is okay. When employees do fail, help them find ways to recover so that they develop resiliency and resourcefulness, rather than giving up.
Provide constructive feedback.
Being able to provide regular, helpful feedback is a great way to teach employees without bossing them around. Leaders are able to provide feedback in a manner that encourages employees to want to work harder. Too many managers make the mistake of focusing feedback on what happened in the past. If you want to be a more effective leader and help your team make improvements in their skills and results, give them feedback about what they can do to solve problems moving forward.
Invest in your employees.
Many companies spend heavily in “leadership training” for executives and focus far less attention on junior level employees. Junior level employees need the same amount, if not more training than executive level employees if you expect them to perform to their highest potential. Investing in your employees increases employee retention and can help eliminate costly rehires down the road.
Being an effective leader begins with hiring manageable employees. Having the right people – at just the right time spells the difference between the success and failure of your project initiative. Ensure your hiring success by teaming up with BOS Medical to find the right employees for your healthcare organization. Whether you’re looking for long- or short-term staff, we have access to top healthcare in Athens, GA, Gainesville, GA, and beyond. Contact us today to talk about customized staffing solutions.