Hello!
Have you ever had a bad boss? If so, you have probably felt the dread of going to work, even if you enjoy the people you work with and the tasks you complete. How you are leading, treating and communicating with a team of direct reports, a project team, or your family is a direct reflection on morale, productivity, and quality of outcomes.
Psychology Today reported, "According to a recent Gallup poll, a bad relationship with the boss is the number one reason for quitting a job. Supervisor problems outplace all other areas of worker dissatisfaction, including salary, work hours or day-to-day duties. And employees leave supervisors, not companies."
Leaders need to develop and empower their teams, and themselves, into high-performance individuals. Leaders need to build trust to produce higher levels of job satisfaction and personal happiness. People perform better and are happier when they have trust.
Behaviors That Build Trust:
- Communicates clear and consistent goals, expectations and standards.
- Makes actions match words; keeps their promises and committments.
- Listens with empathy; understands other perspectives, validates people, and asks questions to show interest.
- Makes an effort to show care and concern for employees as individuals.
- Spends time discussing good and bad performances, coaching, and empowering employees.
Remember, people leave leaders. Yes, demonstrating the above behaviors does take time and makes leaders move out of their comfort zones, which is not easy. But if your team is not meeting desired performance levels and morale is low, it is because the team leader is a liability, not an asset. What is this liability costing your organization; and can you afford it during the recession?
To you becoming an asset,
Nancy Stampahar
